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The Spinning Heart

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The Spinning Heart

By: Donal Ryan
Narrated by: Ciaran O'Brien, Toni O'Rourke, Killian Coyle, Eva Bartley, Gerry Howard, Donal Ryan, Anne Marie Ryan, Roy McMillan
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Winner of the
Guardian First Book Award 2013

Shortlisted for the Dublin IMPAC Literary Award 2014

Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013


Winner of Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards 2012

In the aftermath of Ireland's financial collapse, dangerous tensions surface in an Irish town. As violence flares, the characters face a battle between public persona and inner desires. Through a chorus of unique voices, each struggling to tell their own kind of truth, a single authentic tale unfolds.

The Spinning Heart speaks for contemporary Ireland like no other novel. Wry, vulnerable, all-too human, it captures the language and spirit of rural Ireland and with uncanny perception articulates the words and thoughts of a generation. Technically daring and evocative of Patrick McCabe and J.M. Synge, this novel of small-town life is witty, dark and sweetly poignant.

'Donal Ryan is the real deal ... a brilliantly realised, utterly resonant state-of-the-nation landscape' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT

'It's furious, it's moving, it's darkly funny, it punches you right in the gut' NEW YORK TIMES

©2012 Donal Ryan (P)2012 Penguin Audio
Coming of Age Family Life Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Small Town & Rural Witty Funny

Critic Reviews

'Filled with light and shade, love and tragedy ... if it was a song you could sing it' (Anne Enright)

'It’s furious, it’s moving, it’s darkly funny, it punches you right in the gut, the writing is effortlessly wonderful, and every one of the wide variety of voices rings utterly true.' (Tana French)

'Donal Ryan’s precise and evocative debut … is a textured account of a community as it was during a brief moment of time. … unexpectedly tender … Ryan’s prism of life and lives is compellingly humane. … This is an exciting, relevant and believable contemporary novel about the lost and the wounded that listens to the present without discarding either the sins of the fathers or the literary legacy of the past.' (Eileen Battersby)

All stars
Most relevant  
I liked and was shocked by the truth within the vernacular. And I’m curious to read more.

The quiet violence of language

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Loved the authentic characters & the accents. Donal knows how to tell a good story. Enjoyed the listen

Grippingly good

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rarely am i so spellbound, waiting for the story to unfold with each character. clever and artful

what a joy,

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Absolutely loved this , this could be any provincial town in Ireland post the crash, very relatable universal themes which law bare the naked prejudice of small towns

The characters

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I loved the insight the author brought with each character. I particularly liked the last chapter about Bobbie told by his wife. Even though the book was short I had to work hard and make notes to remember who was who..so perhaps the narrative as whole was a little ambitious making the reader/listener work hard. Saying that it was worthwhile making the effort!

Great individual stories. Cleverly written and beautifully told.

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