A gorgeous, authentic novel of multiple voices in a small town - Simply wonderful. A warm hearth for cold times

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House and the incerdible author Donal Ryan for this ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

5★
“I was a witch by training and a whore by inclination. … The title was attached… by people hereabouts for their own ease. The whoring I learned myself as I went along.”

That’s Lily, one of the 21 people from Ryan’s wonderful debut, The Spinning Heart, which was longlisted for the 2013 Booker Prize. I singled her out in that novel, because of her spirit. It didn’t matter that they nicknamed her Lily the Bike, she came to consider herself as delivering a needed service.

She’s worried about her seventeen-year-old granddaughter, Millicent, who is infatuated with a particularly “ratty-looking f*cker. There’s a coldness off of him.”

There sure is, but there’s no way an infatuated teenager will listen to anyone.

“That’s what young ones do once the madness starts coursing through them. It’s a dangerous place in a person’s life, that shadowy path between childhood and adulthood, and it’s pocked and hexed with all sorts of traps and trials.”

Of course, Lily and Milicent are only two of the voices. The others in the choir, so to speak, are familiar from The Spinning Heart, and I was glad to see them again. A few are wiser, as well as older, but some are just sneakier than ever, and one is a ghost.

Chapters are headed with the narrator’s name so that each person tells their own story. It is as if we are listening to them think, rather than chatting over a cup of tea. They have trouble enough sharing some of their thoughts with themselves, let alone admit them to others, but we can see the shame, embarrassment, nostalgia, and sometimes the secret admission of guilt.

This is a small community where relationships ebb and flow. Old grudges die hard, but people swallow their pride, or at least curb their behaviour to spare innocent bystanders. Generations of these people have gone to school together, flirted, had pregnancies, affairs, separations, and a few have escaped.

Mobile phones and the texting of photos have broadened the reach of local gossip, and drug-running has become big business. It’s interesting to see who has changed for the better or for the worse.

One man, Pokey Burke, whom we met as a youth, scarpered off overseas, to escape paying his building workers their entitlements, and left his parents with the debt. Dad has heard he’s returned.

“Pokey had a friend from Malta or one of those quare places who was living down near the lake, just back from the foreshore, in one of those big low houses that was built on a foundation of bribes and bullsh*t back in the eighties.”

Yes, he’s back (with another foolproof scheme), and his father, Josie (Joseph), describes that push-pull, ebb and flow, of strong feelings.

I’m quoting such a long section so you can get the full sense of Ryan’s wonderful writing. It flows with little punctuation and no quotation marks. [NQW – no quotes warning?]

“Before the poor boy even made it as far as the front door I had him forgiven and unforgiven, welcomed and unwelcomed; before a word passed between us I was giving off to him, roaring at him silently, Where were you, you ungrateful lying bastard, you broke your mother’s heart, where were you when she was dying, where were you when she died, where were you?

But I said none of that when finally he landed in the door and stood with his hands hanging, looking at me, his auld man. I leaned heavy on my stick and I reached one hand out to steady myself on the edge of the dining table. I could see him looking at the stick in my right hand and the shake in my left hand, and I could hear the whirs and clicks inside his brain, the gleeful whisper. The auld fella is banjaxed. He’s on the way out. I’ll fall in for the house now, or a share of it at least. I had him judged like that, imagine, before he had even one word spoken. I got back the use of myself after the shock of his appearance and I stepped in closer to get a proper look at him.

. . . Are you hungry, son?”

Josie has swallowed everything, held it all in. Are you hungry son, is as much as he can manage.

I love the writing, the people, and the way each of them tells what is really a universal story in a uniquely Irish voice.

I can’t possibly do justice to all these characters. Just read it, and if you can, read The Spinning Heart first, so you can enjoy the whole experience.

I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but the title also reads as Heart Beat Peace, and I like to think that’s what their (and our) hearts are beating.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Random House/Doubleday for a copy of #HeartBeAtPeace for review.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy, 2.5ish/5

21 separate but interconnected voices deliver a state of the nation address in post-Celtic tiger, post-financial crash small-town Ireland.

This is less a novel and more of a collection of short stories, taking a sweeping look at how people are getting by in the town of Nevagh following the crash and the influx of drugs into the town. State of the nation makes things sound serious and grand, but the voices here are down to earth and relatable, as is the story of ordinary people trying to get by. There is a warmth and readability here, and echoes of that Roddy Doyle cinematic quality in the characterisation.

Where this fell down for me was in its disconnectedness - a bit of work for the reader is not a bad thing, but on a digital version without the ability to flip back and forth it was hard to place the massive cast of characters and their relation to one another in my mind. Something else that took me out of the story was the tendency for characters to make philosophical and societal pronouncements - I don’t think it worked a in first person structure with their voices, felt unreal and unconvincing. Finally, the drugs theme was repetitive and has been done before.

Liked the authors voice, didn’t love this book.

Simply gorgeous, I cannot offer much more only the highest praise for this book. In such a limited amount of pages, the author creates the most rich and varied characters all living together in a small town. I adored The Spinning Heart and loved this book as much.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

This is a powerful story of love and brutality set in a Tipperary community beset with generational and historical trauma.
Its not an easy read, structurally. I sensed early on that an overstuffed cast of characters, each with their own narratives would perhaps lose me in the din of their voices, and that did happen to some extent. I found myself wondering ‘who’s Brian?’ at a time when it was far too late not to know who Brian was. Some of the chapters felt unnecessary
However, the lyricism of the writing is gorgeous and the heart of the story is compelling. I immediately made a note to seek out more of Donal Ryan’s work.

A choral novel, the story of a small town told by the inhabitants. Another excellent novel by an Irish Writer.
Amazing
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Another brilliant book by Ryan, one if the few who can expertly bring a number of individual voices and perspectives into a plot.

The language felt like it fizzed off the page, brought he characters to life in their own chapters, an immersive fantastic read.

Feel like Ryan gave us an insight into who he is via Lloyd's newly found wonder at the expressiveness of language.

Loved it, will read anything Ryan writes.

Told from multiple perspectives, this book explores the impact of tensions between friends, families, and generations in a small town.

There’s quite a lot going on, and I have to confess that I found the different voices a little tricky to follow - how are they connected? What are the relationships? There are lots of nicknames and family names which makes it take a little longer to grasp who everyone is.

It’s quite a dark story, but a very believable one, and the behaviours and attitudes of the characters all rang true within the world that the author has created. I wanted to like it, and my review isn’t at all a reflection on the talent of the writer, but I just found it a bit too hard a read - and not a book I would describe as having ‘enjoyed’.

"I said it before. Madness comes circling around. Ten-year cycles, as true as the sun will rise."

Heart, Be at Peace is the long-awaited sequel (or companion) to Donal Ryan's award-winning 2012 debut, "The Spinning Heart". A series of twenty-one vignettes set just as the Celtic Tiger was letting out her final roars in Ireland, The Spinning Heart was an instant hit. In this follow up, we get another twenty-one snapshots from the same characters, in the same order, ten years later.

For that reason alone, I would recommend that you read The Spinning Heart first - but it's not completely necessary. I read it back in 2013 or 2014, so was happy to read it again.

We catch up with the same set of characters, now at different stages in their lives. Sons are fathers, parents are falling ill, children have grown. The recession affected everyone differently - some left the country, some stayed behind and tried to make a go of things - and some came back.

Drugs are a huge theme - as anyone living in a small rural town knows all too well. They're a scourge on every small town and village in Ireland, and the characters in the book reflect how they sneak in and poison entire communities. If I'm honest, the book really rattled me - having three sons in rural Ireland, drugs are one of my biggest fears. Mental health is also a huge theme, which is another worry. Basically, if you're an Irish Mammy, don't start this at 11pm on a Sunday night when your nineteen-year-old is out with his friends, alright?

I'll read anything Donal writes - I've come close to writing the man fan letters, such is my love for the way he uses language, preserving words and phrases we don't see in print anywhere else. I know that every time I open one of his books that I'll end up bawling my eyes out at some stage, and yet I do it so willingly that not only did I request this ARC, I also pre-ordered the hardcover from Kennys - twice. And I'd do it again.

Heart, Be At Peace is a recent release by author, Dónal Ryan. Having been approved for this book on NetGalley, I subsequently found out that it is a companion novel to The Spinning Heart, which I just so happened to have on my shelf. I would find it difficult to review Heart, Be At Peace, without first reflecting on The Spinning Heart, and so reflect on it I will.

The Spinning Heart which is told from the perspectives of 21 individual characters who are navigating life in the aftermath of the collapse of the Celtic Tiger. I have never quite read anything like The Spinning Heart. At only 160 pages, it would be an easy one to overlook, but it is a powerful, emotive read, filled with simple, but also complex characters. I spent much of the book wondering how the author had possibly translated onto the page the thoughts and emotions of these 21 vastly different characters, from a local builder, to a crèche worker, a child abductor, a grieving mother, a sex worker, and the spirit of a dead man. Donal Ryan nailed every single character and I really felt like I was inside the mind of each character.

Heart, Be At Peace, picks up 10 years later with the same 21 characters who now face a far more sinister challenge than that of the recession.

I absolutely loved Heart, Be At Peace. Perhaps this has something to do with reading it in the decade that it is written and so I was able to connect with it more, but whatever the reason, I was completely engrossed in it. I loved being back in the minds of these characters, grieving with them, laughing with them, getting frustrated with them, and so on.

It is the most wonderful piece of writing that completely encapsulates an entire community. It is heartbreaking and heartwarming all in one. Donal Ryan is a truly talented author and I can't wait to read more of his books.

With sincere thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read Heart, Be At Peace. As always, all opinions are my own.

Oh how I loved revisiting these characters again. Donal Ryan has such a great way with words. I loved seeing how the characters lives had developed since The Spinning Heart. I felt like I was reading about old friends. Beautiful book. Would highly recommend.

A sequel to The Spinning Heart which I have read but cannot remember well.

This book has the same structure, with each of the 20 odd chapters told in the first person by a different character. The structure didn’t work for me and the book never came together for me. I felt I was playing catch up all the time and trying to figure out what was happening. It might have been better to have re-read The Spinning Heart before starting this one.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I didn't realise that this novel was not stand-alone but a sequel to Donal Ryan's The Spinning Heart. I imagine that readers who have read the first novel would perhaps find it easier to get into this one, as there are so many characters involved and narratives that it can be quite confusing remembering who is who. Gradually a story emerges and you discover how these experiences are interlinked. The novel's triumph is perhaps that you are immediately immersed into the lives of 21 disparate characters in a series of vignettes, all living in a small Irish community but all with completely different priorities and perspectives. Although the novel's form is very interesting and it contains much insight into human behaviour, overall I found it quite hard work to get through so I will only be giving it three stars. However, I'm sure it will be worth revisiting some time in the future after I have read the initial novel.

Donal Ryan’s *The Heart Be at Peace* is a short but poignant novella that radiates his signature lyricism and empathy for the inner lives of ordinary people. Set in the Irish countryside, this story is centered on a middle-aged man named Seán as he returns to his childhood home, a place filled with memories of loss, heartbreak, and lingering sorrow. It is a deeply personal exploration of grief, guilt, and the long shadow of the past.

Ryan excels in creating characters who feel profoundly human—flawed, vulnerable, but ultimately resilient. Seán is no exception, and through his perspective, we are given a portrait of a man wrestling with the emotional weight of his family’s troubled history. Ryan’s ability to express complex emotions with stark simplicity stands out, drawing readers into Seán's introspective journey, one that touches on themes of family, faith, and forgiveness.

The language is spare but poetic, with Ryan employing a rhythmic, almost musical quality to his prose. Each sentence seems carefully crafted to evoke deep emotional resonance, making the novella feel like an extended meditation rather than a conventional narrative. Though the book is brief, Ryan uses every page to its full potential, creating a world that is atmospheric and rich in detail, while never losing sight of its intimate emotional core.

However, *The Heart Be at Peace* may not appeal to readers looking for a fast-moving plot or a tightly structured storyline. Instead, the novella meanders through memories and reflections, much like a conversation with an old friend. While some may find this lack of narrative drive frustrating, it suits the contemplative tone of the work, which is more concerned with the inner workings of the heart than external events.

In sum, *The Heart Be at Peace* is a beautifully crafted novella that speaks to the quiet tragedies and redemptive moments of everyday life. Donal Ryan's talent for capturing the nuance of human emotion is on full display here, and for readers who appreciate stories of quiet introspection and emotional depth, this is a powerful, if understated, gem.

EXCERPT: He asked me about his mother, my Eileen. If she'd suffered much. I told him no, she went gently enough. By the time they found the shadows on her lungs, at the end of that summer four years ago it was too late and she knew if she gave battle it would be in vain. I remembered that he loved mustard, and that he preferred white bread, and that he only ever had a bare skim of butter on one slice and none on the other. I had good ham in the fridge and fresh bread, like always. I gave him sugar in his tea, two spoons of it, the way he always had it years ago. I used always to give out to him over it, telling him it was a woman's way of drinking tea, white with milk and poisoned with sugar.
He was hungry. He hardly left a crumb, God help us. I brought him over a cut of tart then. This was bought in a shop, I told him. It won't be like your mother's. He frightened the life out of me with the sound he made all of a sudden, a long high moan that cut through the air and seemed to shake everything; my eyes blurred at the sound of it and the walls of my ears vibrated. And he shook and he shook with the sobs and I sat looking at him and I could easily have reached my hand across to him. I could have stood up and gone to him and put my two arms around him. But I just sat there, looking, embarrassed, wishing he'd go away again and leave me be. God forgive me.

ABOUT 'HEART, BE AT PEACE': Some things can send a heart spinning; others will crack it in two. In a small town in rural Ireland, the local people have weathered the storms of economic collapse and are looking towards the future. The jobs are back, the dramas of the past seemingly lulled, and although the town bears the marks of its history, new stories are unfolding. But a fresh menace is creeping around the lakeshore and the lanes of the town, and the peace of the community is about to be shattered in an unimaginable way. Young people are being drawn towards the promise of fast money whilst the generation above them tries to push back the tide of an enemy no one can touch…

MY THOUGHTS: Told by 21 different voices in a small Irish village and twenty-one interconnecting short stories, Donal Ryan paints a picture of life in a small Irish village, contrasting the current troubles with the past.

The advantages and perils of living in a small village are obvious - everyone knows everyone and their business. Where in the past it was religious alliances that either held people together or divided them, today it is drugs. The dealers, the users, the anti-drug brigade. It is a war on its own and one that is fought in every town across the world. But life goes on around it and Donal Ryan examines and chronicles these lives - the first loves, marriages, betrayals, friendships, deaths, personal shortcomings, successes and, always in the background, the drugs.

These stories, culminating in one dramatic denouement, are beautifully written. These are ordinary people brought to life with wit, honesty and a lyrical beauty.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.1

#HeartBeatPeace #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Donal Ryan is a novelist and short story-writer from Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. He lives in Limerick with his wife Anne Marie and their two children.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Doubleday, via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Heart, Be at Peace by Donal Ryan for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

As a long-time fan of Donal Ryan, I was eager to dive into Heart, Be at Peace, but sadly, it didn’t live up to the promise of The Spinning Heart. The first book beautifully captured the everyday lives of a small rural town in Ireland, with shocks and surprises unfolding naturally. In this sequel, however, everything feels far too dramatic, with each character playing a leading role. The constant twists, turns, and explosions (spoiler alert) make it feel more like a soap opera than a believable portrayal of real life.

While there’s no shortage of material in today’s world to draw from, the story just doesn’t feel grounded or authentic. The natural charm of the first book is replaced by a whirlwind of over-the-top events, making it exhausting to read. Did The Spinning Heart even need a sequel? In this case, less might have been more.

Even though the book is short, it was a slog to get through. The twist at the end, which should have been a moment of revelation, fell flat and was entirely predictable. It seems Ryan leaned too much into sensationalism, losing the human touch that made his earlier work so compelling.

Thanks to NetGalley, Publishers and Author for an ARC of Heart, Be at Peace.

Donald Ryan is an amazing storyteller, and this book is no different. Short stories, that are as much of a novel in themselves, that tells of the lives of people in a small village. Ryan has a beautiful way of writing in different prose for each person, so you can almost believe they are each written by a different person.
I enjoyed this book hugely, I found it hard to stop reading after each story, it just keeps you held in. The stories and people end up being intertwined which makes it even more interesting.
After I've read this, I will go back and reread, and make take notes to keep each person and their links in my head.
Highly recommend

Donal Ryan remains to be my favourite author of all time, back with another wonderful book. For the first time (I believe), he has released in this book somewhat of a sequel - the sequence of events over the years after the story of Spinning Heart. But instead of a direct sequel, it involves other people from the town with the Spinning Heart story mentioned once or twice.
He writes people like no other author can, and uses the most emotive and lyrical language, making reading this an absolute pleasure.

I don't know how I have missed him but this was my first introduction to Donal Ryan's writing. It left a huge impact on me. The voices in the story were note perfect, and each life- no matter how outwardly mundane- was conveyed in the most poetic way. Written with huge compassion and wisdom, it is a book about ( I think) redemption . Thank you Netgalley for introducing me to this wonderful writer.

I had not discovered this author before but have been blown away by his writing. So lyrical and mesmerising. The book is the same story told from different peoples perspectives. At times it was difficult to work out what was happening and in fact I read the book twice to totally understand the story- however I enjoyed the writing so much it was a pleasure to read it twice! I have subsequently read more by Donal Ryan and I am delighted to have discovered him.