‘Strange Flowers’ by Donal Ryan, published by Doubleday
Donal Ryan is a wonderful writer. His first novel, The Spinning Heart, won The Guardian First Book Award in 2013 and he’s been longlisted twice for the Booker Prize. Strange Flowers (out on August 20) is his fifth novel – a tender and beautifully written story about three generations of a family living in rural Ireland. It starts in 1973, when 20-year-old Moll Gladney catches an early morning bus from her home and completely disappears. Her parents search for their daughter without success and fear they’ll never see her again. But five years later Moll returns home, followed by a man who transforms her family’s life forever. We read this outstanding book in one sitting and will definitely return to it again.