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Strange Flowers

By Donal Ryan
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3.81 goodreads logo

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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan is a poignant exploration of family, love, and identity set in rural Ireland. The story centres around the disappearance and unexpected return of a young woman named Moll Gladney, which stirs a series of revelations for her close-knit family. As the family navigates their emotions and secrets, the novel delves into themes of homecoming and the bonds that tie us together, all woven with Ryan's signature lyrical prose.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're captivated by stories set in rural Ireland, where unexpected returns change the course of family destiny. It offers heartfelt exploration of themes like identity, belonging, and reconciliation, woven through a narrative rich with emotional depth and lyrical prose.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The extraordinary story of a family devastated by a sudden disappearance and transformed by a miraculous return from the award-winning author loved by David Nicholls, Kamila Shamsie, and Sebastian Barry.

Winner of the An Post Irish Novel of the Year 2020
Longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award

'You have to truly love people to write like this' RACHEL JOYCE

'One of the greatest novels of this century' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT

'Gorgeously wrought' GUARDIAN

In 1973, twenty-year-old Moll Gladney takes a morning bus from her rural home and disappears. Bewildered and distraught, Paddy and Kit must confront an unbearable prospect - that they will never see their daughter again.

Five years later, Moll returns. What—and who—she brings with her will change the course of her family's life forever.

Beautiful and devastating, this exploration of loss, alienation, and the redemptive power of love reaffirms Donal Ryan as one of the most talented and empathetic writers at work today.

'Outstanding ... Tender and beautifully written' INDEPENDENT

'All the beauty and sorrow of life can be found in these pages' KATHLEEN MACMAHON

'Exquisite . . . Beautiful' ANNE GRIFFIN, author of WHEN ALL IS SAID

'Ryan gathers together the fragments of broken lives and makes us something new and beautiful from them' R N N HESSION, author of LEONARD AND HUNGRY PAUL

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan has been praised for its lyrical and compassionate prose, depicting a moving story of love, loss, and redemption. It is celebrated for its poignant and atmospheric storytelling, with critics commending its emotional depth and the beautifully crafted characters and setting. The novel's mastery of language and the power of its storytelling have placed it among the top works in Irish fiction, lauded as both a triumph and an outstanding read.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781784163044

Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 13 May 2021

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Black Swan

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 15.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 172g

Pages: 240

Collections

Donal Ryan Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Penguin Books

About the Author

Donal Ryan, from Nenagh, County Tipperary, has published seven number one bestselling novels and a short story collection. He has won several awards for his fiction, including the European Union Prize for Literature, the Guardian First Book Award and six Irish Book Awards, and has been shortlisted for several more, including the Costa Book Award and the Dublin International Literary Award. He was nominated for the Booker Prize in 2013 for his debut novel, The Spinning Heart, and again in 2018, for his fourth novel, From A Low and Quiet Sea. The Spinning Heart was voted Irish Book of the Decade in 2016. In 2021 Donal became the first Irish writer to be awarded the Jean Monnet Prize for European Literature. His most recent novel, Heart Be at Peace, won both Novel of the Year and Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards, and was shortlisted for Novel of the Year at the Nero Book Awards. His work has been adapted for stage and screen and translated into over twenty languages. Donal has lectured in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick since 2014 and lives in Castletroy with his wife Anne Marie and their two children.

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