I have heard such wonderful praise about Donal Ryan's writing and I can't believe that this is the first book of his that I've actually read - I will definitely be coming back for more after reading 'Heart, Be At Peace'.

This is the story of a close knit small Irish community - it is told through the voices of 21 different people in the community, each with their own back stories, their own family histories, their own loves, beliefs and prejudices. Some have been living in the area for generations, others are incomers to the area. They each have very distinct stories and voices, for some of them, their family history and loyalties are all important, for others, the lure of making money quickly is their motivation for their actions.

Each chapter is a mini-biography and we learn more about what makes the characters tick and why they have ended up in this moment. The story is beautifully structured. As the chapters piece together, elements drop into place that had been referenced previously, characters who are mentioned in passing previously may have their own chapter, and clues that had been left in earlier chapters come to the fore.

The people are generally thriving and prospering but there's an underlying drug problem which is growing stronger and more pernicious every day and the dealers are becoming ever more powerful. The community has to decide whether it can take action to drive them out or whether its too late for a meaningful intervention.

There's a lot to take away from the story, especially for readers of Donal Ryan's previous books - but it can read equally as a standalone novel.

What a debut Donal Ryan’s 2012 “The Spinning Heart” was. Runner-up in my Books Of The Year 2013, by 2015 I’d highlighted it for a piece I wrote for New Books magazine as one of the best books of the 21st Century to date. I marvelled at how what seemed initially a simple work was actually very complex in the way it created a whole community through 21 narrators who develop the plot in turn, without anyone getting a second bite of the cherry. I loved it. Donal Ryan also made my end of year Top 10 in 2022 with “The Queen Of Dirt Island”. He’s won awards, his books sell well and are critically acclaimed. I experienced probably an equal measure of anticipation and trepidation when I found out that his new book would be a sequel to “The Spinning Heart”.
Anticipation because I was thrilled that I would be spending time with this community again and trepidation because I really wasn’t sure that this book needed a sequel. It wasn’t until I finished the book and compared the two that I realised not only has the author used the same 21 characters as narrators but he has done so in exactly the same order.
I’m going to reveal at this point that I did really enjoy this but not as much as “The Spinning Heart”. I think there’s a couple of reasons why. The action takes place around 10 years later and whereas the event in the debut were fresh a lot of this sequel refers back to these events. You could read it as a stand-alone but it would not work as well as the debut does. Also, “The Spinning Heart” had a lovely organic feel with the plot being developed through the narrators. By using them in the same order, which is admittedly an admirable achievement, it feels as if the author is more constricted by the structure which means, for me, it didn’t flow quite as well.
The first narrator, Bobby, is once again at the centre of things. He is occupied by the spread of drugs into the small community and on a personal level about how his behaviour on an Amsterdam stag weekend is being perceived. Most of the other narratives stem from one or other of these events. There’s a few characters, new this time, involved with the drugs trade who do not have their say and the author even gets around one character who is no longer alive ten or so years on from the first book.
Ultimately, I do like that Donal Ryan has chosen to revisit with his new novel and it did get me flicking through “The Spinning Heart” once again and I’m really tempted to re-read the two books in tandem going from narrator to narrator which will give a whole new dimension. In this sense, it feels like the author has given us much more than a new novel here. I’m not actually disappointed that it doesn’t quite live up to “The Spinning Heart” for me because it offers new perspectives to explore.
“Heart, Be At Peace” was published by Doubleday in the UK on 8th August 2024. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

Heart, Be At Peace is Donal Ryan’s latest novel and a follow-up to his earlier book, The Spinning Heart, revisiting the same town and characters 10 years later.

Donal Ryan has an uncanny ability to capture the essence of all the different lives and personalities that make up small rural Irish communities and this book is very much a continuation of that. It almost reads as a collection of short stories, with each chapter told from the perspective of a different voice in the community, though there is an over-riding arc that links them together. While it’s an enticing method of story-telling, there are inevitably some characters you’ll find yourself wishing to hear more from or wanting to get back to. Nonetheless, it's yet another beautifully written novel from one of Ireland's best contemporary writers.

Can it be read as a standalone novel? Yes probably, but the sense of familiarity and enjoyment in catching up with this small community is all the more greater if you read, or possibly even re-read, The Spinning Heart first.

Every once in a while an author comes along with words on his page that encapsulate the very essence of what it is to be Irish. Descriptions of community, phrases, emotion, author Donal Ryan makes you feel it all. He is a gifted storyteller and writes so beautifully.
Carefully crafting each character in his debut novel The Spinning Heart, he continues their story some ten years later in Heart, Be At Peace. A standalone sequel though...
Moving on from Ireland when the recession hit, we delve back in to the lives of each character, each with their own distinctive voice.
Life hasn't been good for many of them but we see how they all cross paths in some way as they deal with the aftermath. Strong in their own right though.
Ireland is all about community and this was so prominent in all his stories.
I felt the author gave a voice to every character in his stories in a way that brought emotion and compassion.
I laughed with some of them, cried with others as their stories unfolded.
I can't praise the author highly enough for his memories, his storytelling, for his voice.
Beautifully done..

As a follow-up to another book, this book stands alone, but is also a clever development of the stories and lives of characters told in fragments- we, like the characters, watch them from a distance as they try to hold their lives together against difficulties.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

As a long time fan of Donal Ryan, I was so looking forward to reading this and it is amongst his finest to date. We are immersed into the rural life of 21 characters in an Irish village with its quirkiness and characters and of course, its dark heart. All characters are brought to life with touching detail and a breadth and depth of character that is conveyed so succinctly in the writing. It is beautifully written and despite what could be seen as a limited insight or development of each character, Ryan has once again produced a masterfully powerful and satisfying novel.

My goodness, what an emotional ride. Twenty-one stories, all moving towards an utterly unexpected denouement, each one packed with passion and pathos. I wasn’t able to read this in one sitting, and I found the plentiful characters tripped me up at times because of the time between reading. The writing is sublime (another signature Irish author!), as is the capturing of life in a village after an economic crisis. I was giddy from the cornucopia of emotions.
I haven’t read Donal Ryan’s award-winning book ‘The Spinning Heart’ but the sequel stands alone. I shall, however, be adding it to my TBR list!

Retired garda Jim Gildea said it best - "Madness comes circling around. Ten-year cycles, as true as the sun will rise." Well, ten years have passed, and for many of the residents of Nenagh in County Tipperary, the rage and despair of those dark economic times are a distant memory. Many, but not all. However, even for those whose circumstances have changed for the better, there is a new scourge sitting like a dark cloud over this small Irish community. It sits outside the school gates, hides behind darkly tinted car widows, glides across the river in the dead of night, and turns regular people into demons. Drugs.

Following the same format as The Spinning Heart, in exactly the same order, we see how our 21 characters' lives and fortunes have changed in those 10 intervening years. The ending left me with my heart in my mouth.

I really enjoyed returning to this community, after having read The Spinning Heart a few months ago. There were constant sparks of recognition and memory, as well as urgent backtracking a couple of times (to the other book) to make sure I was remembering people and events correctly. Having said that, I think this book can absolutely be read as a standalone, but if you are going to read both, then I'd suggest reading them in order. I also got a little thrill from the Easter egg for fans of The Queen of Dirt Island. Small but welcome.

I hadn't read Donal Ryan's previous work, which featured the same characters, but that didn't dampen my enjoyment of this at all. A huge cast of characters (sometimes so many it's hard to keep track) telling many aspects of the same story in individual chapters, this gives an incredible groundedness to the story and brings the place vividly to life. Highly recommended and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

A book written in 21 different voices, all telling the story of a small town in Ireland - almost a book of short stories, although they do come together in the end. Each voice is unique, but for this reader there were just a few too many of them to make a coherent whole or to establish the relationships between them - it was easy to lose the thread at times. The writing from Donal Ryan is lyrical and as beautiful as ever, with the pure enjoyment of words a reason to keep reading, but a little more coherence was needed for this reviewer to really love the book.

Donal Ryan’s groundbreaking new novel Heart Be at Peace is a magical collage of stories that link together to make a glittering artwork.
The voices all come from his earlier award-winning novel The Spinning Heart but even without having read that you are in for a treat.
The characters in this narrative are a mix of the old and the new; the stag party in Amsterdam is a recurring theme from a number of characters; others sense the threat in the rural Irish town where the story is set and they try to protect their own. Some bemoan how things have changed, but
everyone democratically gets a chance to express their opinions on how things have turned out as they did.
Ryan’s writing style is delightful, allowing each voice to gloriously enjoy their 15 minutes of fame!!

Oof. I am struggling here to piece together what I want to tell you about this riveting read.

Set in a small rural town in Ireland, Heart, Be At Peace, tells the story of the clash between two generations. One is young, secretive and connected through the desire to make quick cash no matter the cost or loss of morality, and the other is wiser and can see that there is no way that that journey will end well.

Donal Ryan is a poet. What else can I tell you? The thing is though, his words don’t rhyme and they’re not written in verse. His poetry lies in his acute characterisation. His writing gut punched me. Or punched me in the gut. Hey. I’m not the poet here. Donal would know exactly how to phrase that better than I do.

And the best part of this book? He tells this town’s story through 21 voices. Each chapter is dedicated to the narrative of a different character. All shaped through their individual but sometimes similar history. Each voice adds something unique to this haunting tapestry of words that is weaved together to create a compelling story of this town and its people.

The story set in a small town in rural Ireland, told through twenty one different voices. Each person with their own unique hopes, dreams and worries but each story intertwined at various points. I never read The Spinning Heart so this can be read as a standalone or as a companion.
Donal Ryan is such an incredibly talented Irish writer, every time I read one of his books I am blown away. This one, for me, had a bit more of an edge than previous books of his I’ve read but I absolutely loved it. The characters so interesting yet so different, but all with the same common goal, a love for their community and a fierce protectiveness to keep it safe for their children. Simply stunning.
Thank you so much to the publishers and Netgalley for the chance to read

I downloaded to my kindle however the formatting was as being all too often poor making it unreadable.

Therefore I can’t review as I was unable to read.

Sorry - 5 stars left because this is not the authors or publishers fault the premise and the spiel of the books sounds right up my street too so really disappointed in NetGalley once again for letting down the people behind the book.

Wow! I hadn't read any of Donal Ryan's books before this but will be from now on. This book is narrated by the voices of a small, rural Irish community which is in danger of fracturing as a result of the actions of a few. The book explores their secrets, friendships and emotions and the interwoven links of their lives. The characters are drawn in rich, descriptive language which means that they stayed with me for a while after reading the book, as did the impact of drugs on a community. A brilliant read.

Heart, Be at Peace is written as if by 21 different characters from the plot which made it difficult to track especially in the kindle version. I was quickly confused with the different relationships between the characters and each time I thought I had it sorted a new version of something would come up. It would have helped hugely to have a physical book to flick backwards and forward through, but even that wouldn't have made an easy read. Reading the prequel, The Spinning Heart, might have helped sift the characters in my mind but I'm not sure — a couple of the things that are referred to like a kidnapping and a drowning might have been better explored in the earlier text too.

Because of the slipping between characters I found I didn't bond with any of them well enough to be cheering in their corner and I felt more of an outsider watching the event unfold from the sidelines. When the comeuppance eventually comes I wasn't as invested as I might have if style of writing had been different. This is a shame because I enjoyed the writing style and sense of place was good.

With thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for an arc copy in return for an honest review.

Although this can be read as a stand-alone, I read it straight after finishing ‘The Spinning Heart’ and found being familiar with the previous novel enriched the experience. It was like meeting old friends again to see how they were faring ten years later. ‘The Spinning Heart’ was set during the burst of the Celtic Tiger bubble, with businesses collapsing, causing massive unemployment. Short chapters from 21 different voices described how this affected the people and their lives in their small rural Irish town with events and characters interconnecting throughout to tell the overall story.

Now ten years later in Heart be at Peace, those same 21 voices are heard again. Jobs and prosperity have returned to the region, but another evil has reared its ugly head to damage and destroy lives. The young and the old are all affected by the scourge of the drug epidemic. As before the distinctly individual voices intersect to paint a picture of a troubled town.

Bobby Mahon is once again at the centre, a good man who has done much to start a new business, creating jobs for others hurt by the recession and now wants to rid the town of the drug dealers in their midst. His old boss, Pokey Burke is back from his self-imposed exile after bankrupting his business and leaving his employees unpaid and without benefits ten years ago, but again he’s caught up in some shady deals. Times may change but people not so much.

As before, Ryan’s language is beautiful and lyrical with a wry touch of humour and fondness as he gives us snapshots of people’s lives and feelings. There is love and longing as well as violence and hurt which all comes together beautifully to show us the pulse of a small, coherent community once again feeling the pain of forces outside their control. It’s brilliantly done, especially that all 21 voices are heard in the same order as before.

I do recommend reading the previous novel if you haven’t already. Since both novels are around 200 pages each, it’s not a huge task and, besides, why wouldn’t you want to read more of Donal Ryan’s lovely, lyrical writing?

Heart, Be at Peace by Donal Ryan.
Publication date: August 8th.

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

Ryan's debut multi award winning novel, The Spinning Heart was published in 2012. Set in a small Irish town in the aftermath of the financial crisis, the novel is told through a chorus of distinct and unique voices, it is a brilliant read. With Heart, Be at Peace, Ryan returns to this Irish town, a decade later. This book can be read as a standalone novel or as a companion piece to The Spinning Heart. I would recommend reading The Spinning Heart first, or if like me, it is years since you read The Spinning Heart, I would reread it before picking up this novel. I didn't and I regret not doing so, a lot of the novel came back to when reading but I wish it had of been fresher in my mind.

I really loved this. Sitting down with a Donal Ryan novel is always a pleasure, he is undoubtedly one of Ireland's finest storytellers and this book was so impressive and enthralling. Ryan brings the reader back to this rural town, the economy has improved, the memory drama of the past has dulled though isn't completely faded. The book is told from the perspective of of the same twenty one character as a new threat begins to creep around this town and its peace is once again at risk.

Like all of Ryan's novels, this book is short , 200 pages where not one sentence is wasted. This town and its inhabitants burst from the page with their uniqueness and familiarity , its a deliciously Irish read and beautifully paced as their lives intertwine before sweeping to its page turning conclusion.

A genuine pleasure to read , wonderful storytelling, memorable characters and full of humanity and heart.
4.5

Read this as a stand alone, not realising it was a companion read to My Spinning Heart. A well written collection of inter connected short stories from a (dysfunctional) cast of characters from a village in Ireland.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

A beautiful book in the same vein as The Spinning Heart - the book that introduced so many of us to the stunning prose of Donal Ryan. It was a joy to read another masterpiece and so reminiscent of that earlier book which is so lovingly remembered by fans


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC