Books with author Donna Ryan

Eagerly anticipated first collection of short stories from the author of The Spinning Heart and The Thing About December. Donal Ryan's short stories pick up where his acclaimed novels The Spinning Heart and The Thing About December left off, dealing with the human cost of loneliness, isolation and displacement. Sometimes this is present in the ordinary, the mundane; sometimes it is triggered by a fatal encounter or a tragic decision. At the heart of these stories, crucially, is how people are drawn to each other and cling on to love, often in desperate circumstances. In a number of the stories, these emotional bonds are forged by traumatic events caused by one of the characters -- between an old man and the frightened young burglar left to guard him which his brother is beaten; between another young man and the mother of a girl whose death he caused when he crashed his car; between a lonely middle-aged shopkeeper and her assistant. Displacement pervades stories involving emigration (an Irish priest in war-torn Syria) or immigration (an African refugee in Ireland). Some of the stories are set in the same small town in rural Ireland as the novels, with names that will be familiar to Donal's readers. In haunting prose, Donal Ryan has captured the brutal beauty of the human heart in all its hopes and failings.

Eagerly anticipated first collection of short stories from the author of The Spinning Heart and The Thing About December. Donal Ryan's short stories pick up where his acclaimed novels The Spinning Heart and The Thing About December left off, dealing with the human cost of loneliness, isolation and displacement. Sometimes this is present in the ordinary, the mundane; sometimes it is triggered by a fatal encounter or a tragic decision. At the heart of these stories, crucially, is how people are drawn to each other and cling on to love, often in desperate circumstances. In a number of the stories, these emotional bonds are forged by traumatic events caused by one of the characters -- between an old man and the frightened young burglar left to guard him which his brother is beaten; between another young man and the mother of a girl whose death he caused when he crashed his car; between a lonely middle-aged shopkeeper and her assistant. Displacement pervades stories involving emigration (an Irish priest in war-torn Syria) or immigration (an African refugee in Ireland). Some of the stories are set in the same small town in rural Ireland as the novels, with names that will be familiar to Donal's readers. In haunting prose, Donal Ryan has captured the brutal beauty of the human heart in all its hopes and failings.

From the twice Man Booker longlisted author of From a Low and Quiet Sea 'Poetic, powerful and heart-rending' The Times'An exquisite account of womanhood, friendship, prejudice and tradition that is both intimate in scale and awesome in achievement' Irish IndependentMelody Shee is alone and in trouble. Her husband doesn't take her news too well. She can’t tell her father yet because he’s a good man and this could break him. She’s trying to stay in the moment, but the future is looming – larger by the day – while the past won’t let her go. What she did to Breedie Flynn all those years ago still haunts her.It’s a good thing that she meets Mary Crothery when she does. Mary is a young Traveller woman, and she knows more about Melody than she lets on. She might just save Melody’s life.'A joy to read, for all that it breaks your heart' Independent'One of the finest writers working in Ireland today ... worthy of Greek Drama' Guardian'A stunning piece of work, utterly truthful and emotionally powerful' Joseph O'Connor'Work of genius ... I was entranced by it. Buckled by it' Sebastian Barry