Heart, Be at Peace: A Novel
It is praised as a novel that layers many voices to portray the scars and recovery of a small town after economic collapse. The polyphonic form feels rich to many readers, though some experience the pace as gentle.
Work Information
It weaves a town’s memory through twenty-one voices.
A novel in twenty-one voices about a town still living with the aftershocks of economic collapse. Even in the shadow of violence and unease, kindness and solidarity remain alive.
Review Summaries
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Its polyphonic structure and its attention to the atmosphere of the town are widely appreciated. Some readers welcome the quiet movement, while others find the gradual pace a little too restrained.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Penguin Books
- Published
- 2026-05-19
- Pages
- 208 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 13.49 x 1.4 x 20.29 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780593834664
- ISBN-10
- 0593834666
- Price
- 3122 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Literary
Winner of the Irish Book of the Year Shortlisted for the Nero Novel of the Year From one of the most acclaimed Irish writers today, a new novel about smalltown Ireland that explores a community on the mend and the power of love and trauma to both bring people together and divide them “ I said it before. Madness comes circling around. Ten-year cycles, as true as the sun will rise. . .” In a small town in Ireland, the local people have weathered the storm of economic collapse and now look to the future: The jobs are back, the dramas of the past seemingly lulled, and although the town bears the scars of its history, new stories have begun to unfold. But an insidious menace now creeps through back-alley shadows and into the lives of the townspeople. Old grudges fester and new ones arise. Young people are lured by the promise of fast money while the generation above them tries to hold back the tide of an enemy beyond their control. And the peace of this town is about to be shattered in an unimaginable way. A stunning, lyrical novel told in twenty-one voices, Heart, Be at Peace reveals a community that together looks to overcome the betrayals, secrets, and grudges that can divide families, neighbors, and entire generations.
Donal Ryan is a novelist and short story writer from Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland. He has won several national and international awards for his fiction, and has twice been nominated for the Booker Prize. His work has been adapted for stage and screen and translated into over twenty languages. Donal is a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Limerick, and he lives with his wife, Anne Marie, and their two children.
Reviews
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Sometimes I was swept away in the tide of Oirish slang and verbal constructs but then the unresistable current of the narrative caught and held me. In fact a very good novel
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Absolutely fantastic!
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A deep look into the dark waters of the soul and the purity of the human heart. Only for those willing to face their own demons and longings.
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This is my first foray into Irish writer Donal Ryan’s works, and I am pleased to see he has a strong back catalogue that I can delve into and savour. As the title suggests, the characters in this rather heartfelt novel struggle against unrest in their families, their friends and community, and also within themselves. Each chapter is named after a character and offers an insight into their respective backstories and perspectives of the inhabitants of a small town in County Tipperary. All these disparate vignettes link up to make up the story, and it is delightful to read a multi-character novel that works so remarkably well. Hidden jealousies among childhood friends, family betrayals, and two crimes from the past that that the community still feels the tremors from, drugs and unsavoury characters that plague the neighbourhood, vigilante justice, and love and forgiveness are all parts of this short yet incisive novel. Highly recommended.
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I can’t say I greatly enjoyed this. It is akin to a collection of short stories, presented through the different perspectives of those living in and around a town. Josie, himself a kind-hearted individual, has an awful son Pokey, who is the cornerstone of greed both past and present. Many of the characters are not very nice people. Jason's works for Pokey, and is himself rough around the edges, with a spider web tattoo on his face and wants to get involved with his cousin. Rory stands out as an outlier, being the only genuinely happy chap in the narrative. One of the more memorable characters is Vasya, the eternally honest hobo, whose interactions paint a vivid picture of the community's essence and diverse perspectives. Jim provides a viewpoint on the challenges of being a law enforcer nowadays, with all the rules and immediate recording on phones. The strength of the book lies in how we learn more about each character through the other characters stories. Additionally, the author uses quite a few words I had never heard of which was fun to go and look them up! Overall, while it is a clever way of capturing the essence of a community and the writing is superb, I did not find the story particularly engaging.
Related Literary Awards
- Orwell Prize Edition 32 (2025) ・Winner