by Jan Carson
First published 2019
In a city already primed to combust, two fathers wrestle with explosive family secrets. Dr. Jonathan Murray clutches his newborn daughter Sophie, haunted by her unknown potential and his own isolation after being abandoned by his emigrating parents. Nearby, Sammy Agnew lives with the shadow of his violent past and a son, Mark, who inhabits the family attic like a restless phantom. As Belfast erupts into flames, both men confront the dangerous inheritances coursing through their bloodlines—the rage, the uncertainty, the potential for destruction. Their children become living crucibles of inherited trauma, threatening to ignite something far more dangerous than the city's burning streets. With each passing moment, Jonathan and Sammy must decide whether to suppress or protect the volatile forces growing within their own families.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: family-drama, fathers, inherited-trauma
Setting: Belfast
Period: 21st-century
378 pages · Thorpe, Charnwood
Content warnings: violence