Author(s): Donal Ryan

fiction a-z

Following the thunderous and worldwide success of his first two novels, The Spinning Heart and The Thing About December, Donal Ryan is back with a stunning new short story collection: A Slanting of the Sun. Poignant, punchy and philosophical, these stories will now become an integral part of the Ryan oeuvre and establish him as a permanent fixture within the Irish literary canon. This remarkable new gathering of twenty stories spans the spectrum of society: from the smalltown pub, to the squat, to the nursing home; from thugs, victims, cheats and asylum seekers, to the chronically ill. They encapsulate all that is so impressive about Donal Ryan's writing and are replete with the rambling colloquial dialect, sharp sense of place and bursting capsules of character we have come to expect. Their wonderful tonality and vast emotional scope showcase Ryan's ability to depict human frailty while maintaining dignity and integrity. He is an 'ambulance chaser with a soul'. In 'Tommy and Moon', the narrator alludes to himself as a writer working on his next book, with a gorgeous story about a hawk; in 'The Passion', perversity blossoms in imperceptible steps; in 'The Squad', tiny problems are elaborated into struggles of great human poignancy; the character in 'Royal Blue' is a brilliant little queen, full of spark and verve; and the unexpected twist in 'Losers Weepers' is so skillfully executed it leaves the reader gasping. The title story, 'A Slanting of the Sun, ' carves a hollow of loss in the narrator's world, tracing the swell and fall of his faith. It breathes and sighs and sends shivers. A Slanting of the Sun, proudly published for the first time by The Lilliput Press, is sure to thrill Donal Ryan's readers and win him many new ones.