This book is longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013 & the winner of Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards 2012. My father still lives back the road past the weir in the cottage I was reared in. I go there every day to see is he dead & every day he lets me down. He hasn't yet missed a day of letting me down." 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 & 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 & spirit of rural Ireland & with uncanny perception articulates the words & thoughts of a generation. Technically daring & evocative of Patrick Mc Cabe & J.M. Synge this novel of small-town life is witty dark & sweetly poignant. Donal Ryan's brilliantly realized debut announces a stunning new voice in literary fiction."