Book review: A Slanting of the Sun

SINCE being plucked from slush-pile obscurity by a Lilliput Press intern after suffering a slew of earlier rejections, Donal Ryan has enjoyed an incredible rise to literary stardom. 

The Spinning Heart ranked as one of the most sensational débuts in recent memory, his masterful 2012 depiction of post-Celtic Tiger malaise hauling in a slew of honours, including the Guardian First Book Award, the EU Prize for Literature and the Irish Book Award, as well as being short-listed for the IMPAC Award and long-listed for the Booker Prize.

His second novel, The Thing About December, which appeared in 2013 to acclaim that was almost equally effusive, confirmed for many the author’s status as one of the most exciting and original of his generation.