Not an easy book to pigeonhole - part family saga, part crime story - but certainly worth a read. Telling a broad story through the voices of many protagonists is a difficult trick to pull off, but Donal Ryan has made a good fist of it with Heart, Be at Peace.

Set in Ireland in a small town beset by financial problems and troubled by drug dealers, this novel explores the relationships of the men and the women caught up in a tangle of murky deeds. Many took place decades ago but the effects are still being felt.

Each narrator gives us a fresh insight into the background and a new way of looking at the other characters. For some, that insight supports what we already knew about them, but for others it makes us re-assess their thoughts and actions. Love them or loath them, you become ever-more invested in what's going to happen to them. Some are beyond redemption, others can be forgiven, some fall in love with the wrong person, others choose the wrong path...there's lots going on here with these vibrant characters.

I confess that once or twice I lost the thread as the novel shifted to another narrator, but a quick flick back a few pages re-connected me. A page with a family tree might have been helpful...but then again might have given too much away!

Ah, ye gods, such writing. How he inhabits each individual character so completely and perfectly. The story wrapping its way around you as each perspective is shared.
Powerful prose. Aching. A worthy sequel to the Spinning Heart.

Wow what a fabulous book! That being said I did have to read this twice as I found it had initially to reconcile all the different characters. I hadn’t read Ryan’s companion novel ‘The Spinning Heart’ and that may have even why. Nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought it was extremely clever the way Ryan could drive the story along with 21 different points of view.

This is a sort of sequel to The Spinning Heart, a book I thought was absolutely brilliant. This one is not quite as good but I still thought it was amazing how well he gets into the heads and personalities of his characters. This book is about 10years after the events of the first book and again, each chapter is narrated by a different character. Another great read.

Late in this beautifully written, multi-voiced novel, one of the characters says that madness comes in ten-year-cycles. So here we are, ten years on from Donal Ryan’s stunning debut novel ‘The Spinning Heart’.
Using the same structure, we get a snapshot of life in a small Irish town blighted by a drug running gang. We hear from the good, the so-so and the ugly, there is some closure and a bittersweet ending.
This is a wonderful addition to Donal Ryan’s big-hearted microcosm.

"𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆"

Ten years after the events in Ryan’s debut novel The Spinning Heart, we return to small town rural Ireland and the same characters to see how their lives have developed.

The Spinning Heart is my favourite Donal Ryan novel, although I truly love all of them and sometimes find them hard to decide between. When I saw the author speak at an event in January and tell the audience about this new book, I audibly gasped. This book is probably my most anticipated read of 2024.

I was just blown away by The Spinning Heart. Ryan has an amazing ability to build a narrative timeline while giving us multiple POVs and never revisiting the same POV twice. To me, his books feel like someone sitting down beside me and telling me a story. Heart, Be at Peace is written in the same way and it honestly felt like a hug revisiting familiar characters and stories.

I took longer to read this book than I could have, but I didn’t want it to end, knowing I will have to wait a while for another one. But I can always reread the old ones - they truly feel like comfort reads to me, despite the fact the topics are not exactly light-hearted or comforting, something in his voice makes me feel at home.

There is no need to have read The Spinning Heart before reading this latest novel, but I think reading it first will only enhance your reading of Heart, Be at Peace. Donal Ryan fans will not be disappointed.

I am always excited to read Donal Ryan's latest work. Heart, Be at Peace is a companion book to his debut novel "The Spinning Heart". In the Spinning Heart we witness the impact of the economic crash in a rural Irish village and the tensions and resentments that arise in the community as told in vignette form from a variety characters. This style is replicatesd in Heart, Be at Peace. Time and most people have moved on. Many of the characters in Spinning Heart are revisited and while I liked having the knowledge from the Spinning Heart , the story is strong enough to work as a standing alone.
As with all Donal Ryan's novels, the writing is evocative and beautifully descriptive and he has a true gift for characterisation. Funny and tragic in equal measure, itcaptures the good and the bad of rural Ireland.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

Having previously read the "The Spinning Heart" years ago, I approached Donal Ryan's latest book with eager anticipation and high expectations. Happily this novel surpasses its predecessor. Stylistic and structural echoes provide continuity, however the language, character depth, and atmospheric intensity have all been magnified to remarkable effect. Whether read for the evolution of familiar characters or as a stand-alone, this is first-rate writing from a master of the art of story-telling. Highly recommended. Special thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and NetGalley for a no obligation advance review copy.

Heart be at peace, in the same vein as The Spinning Heart is told through chapters, each of a different character. Each of these chapters is a piece of the picture of village life, capturing the community's struggles and bonds. At times it can be a bit doom and gloom, I find that is the case with many of the novels I read that are set in rural Ireland. But after a day or so away, reading something more lighthearted, I re-emersed myself into the beauty that is this piece of Irish literature,

While it is the sequel to The Spinning Heart, this book stands alone as a compelling read in its own right. Highly recommended for readers of character-driven stories and lovers of Irish literature.

Irish village at it's best and worst. Each chapter is from a different person's point of view.
A beautifully lyrical book.
Loved it.
Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC

Another beautifully written tale about ordinary people living in small-town rural Ireland. Readers have come to expect Donal Ryan’s gift for creating memorable individuals and presenting them in such compassionate, poignant ways. ‘Heart, be at peace’ is no exception.
Lloyd, a character recently out of prison, who has discovered the joy of writing explains his passion for words. ‘Language was unwieldy at the beginning: I had to learn to marshal it, to make it do my bidding. And when I had the language leashed, the characters were suddenly beyond my control. They were crazy! The things they said and did. The wild joy I felt. The rightness of it all.’
Just how much is Lloyd echoing Ryan’s experience? The twenty-one voices in this novel are all so distinctive and sound so real that it’s not difficult to assume that they present themselves fully formed. However, that would do a disservice to the brilliance of the author’s storytelling. The structure of the novel allows us to see events from different viewpoints in an organic sort of way and to appreciate the many layers that make up the whole of someone. Highly recommended.
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

I love Donal Ryan to bits and this is his best book yet. Hard to believe it's 12 years since The Spinning Heart was published. This is even more brilliant and beautiful.

I have read a couple of Donal Ryan’s books but this is, by far, my favourite. Telling the story of the local people and how they intermingled with each other, while not a new idea, was written very cleverly. I would have liked to have read more about the women in the book, it was mainly based around the male characters, but I thought it was so well written I could have read a longer version.

This is definitely going to be a hit upon release.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

‘Heart Be at Peace’ is the follow up/companion book to Donal Ryan’s extraordinarily impressive debut ‘The Spinning Heart’ - the tale of a fractured community in shock, told by 21 different voices after the local building firm that was previously at the heart of the area’s prosperity collapsed.
This new book can be read as a stand alone novel but it definitely helps to have read ‘The Spinning Heart’ and know something of the background of these same 21 voices a decade later.
Whereas the previous book dealt with the fall out from recession, this one deals with the effect on the community when drug dealers take over and the authorities seem powerless to stop them.
Each character, and readers will have their own favourite, feels distinct and genuine, their reflections, both funny and heartbreaking, ring true. The writing is beautiful and lyrical, then can change in an instant to brutal.
The ending is both clever and dramatic, a testament to Donal Ryan’s impressive talent as a writer and I would be disappointed if this book isn’t nominated for the Booker Prize.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for an ARC

As usual Donal Ryan gets to the heart of communities.
He always tells a cracking story and this is no exception.
I loved it.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A spellbinding narrative that pulls shimmering threads out of the air to weave a microcosm exploring human fallibility. Literature in one of its best forms. Recommended!
With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

As with all of Donal Ryan's novels I have read, this swept me up and I devoured it in one sitting - he weaves a tapestry of characters and plot lines so brilliantly. I hadn't read The Spinning Heart, but of course will now, and then will probably re-read this. An easy 5* and one I will recommend to everyone.
Thank you #Netgalley for this ARC

A collection of characters, each with their own stories, that all weave in and out of each others lives, set in a small town

Unfortunately, this is the first book I have read by Donal Ryan, and it's a wrong that I need to right!
I'm glad to have discovered his writings and I greatly enjoyed hearing the voices of all the characters. Funny, moving, soul searching and beautifully written.
Plenty of Irish fiction seems to revolve around criminal activity... this is no exception, and although it's not a genre that I'm drawn towards, I will still be seeking out Donal Ryan's other works. Great stuff!

I loved this novel which tells the story of rural Irish life over a few months from the point of view of a large group of the areas inhabitants. The characters of these people are defined precisely and beautifully and feel like real people
The author has a beautiful poetic way of writing and the language lilts off the page in its beautiful Irishness
The novel had me in tears pretty near the start and on several occasions throughout the novel. The tears were off recognition and of empathy with the people that we meet.

The casual criminality of the population juxtaposed with the organised criminality of the drug dealers was noted throughout
There’s something timeless about the story take a few modern technologies out and it could’ve been written at any time in history
The author is an expert storyteller. I love the way the unexploded bomb took its place both at the start and the end of the story.

This novel reads like an Irish Shuggie Bain but by Douglas Stewart, if you like that British sure you like this same way you’re going to love this
I had forgotten that I had read one of the authors previous books from a low and quiet sea which was longlisted for the Booker prize in 2018 and didn’t enjoy it .After reading this book however and enjoying it so much I will definitely be putting some of his other books my to be read pile. He may be my new favourite author I would g be surprised if this one is nominated for A Booker prize
The book is published in the UK on the 15th of August 2024 by random house UK Transworld publishers.