by Donal Ryan
First published 2024
Patrick Casey's younger brother dies in a sudden, violent incident, leaving the Casey family fractured and raw. In their small Irish town, grief becomes a minefield of unspoken tensions and simmering rage. Patrick struggles to maintain his fragile equilibrium, wrestling with guilt, family expectations, and the suffocating weight of rural community judgment. As whispers and accusations circulate, he must decide whether to retreat into silence or confront the painful truth that threatens to destroy everything his family has built. One wrong move could unravel generations of carefully maintained appearances.
Genres: literary-fiction, grief, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, grief
Setting: Ireland
Period: 21st-century
208 pages · Paperback · Doubleday, Transworld Publishers, Penguin Random House