Donal Ryan’s ‘Heart, Be at Peace’ revealed as winner of the 2024 An Post Irish book of the year

Heart, Be at Peace by award-winning author and Tipperary native Donal Ryan has been named the An Post Irish Book of the Year.

The announcement was made at a ceremony, which was broadcast on RTÉ One television. Heart, Be at Peace was among six that were in the mix to receive the award. Each of the six shortlisted titles was a category winner at the An Post Irish Book Awards which took place earlier this month.

The novel was the unanimous choice of the judges, according to chair of the panel Maria Dickenson, who described Ryan as being among the greatest names in Irish literature.

The story is set in a small rural town where locals have dealt with the brunt of the economic collapse. While jobs, dramas and life is back in town in the novel, a new menace creeps around the streets and shores. The novel delves into how the new-found peace of the community is about to be shattered.

Ryan gained acclaim following the release of his debut novel, The Spinning Heart which was published in 2012 and was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. In 2016, it was voted the Irish Book of the Decade, in a poll run by the Dublin Book Festival. In September 2021, with six novels under his belt, he became the first Irish writer to be awarded the Jean-Monnet Prize for European Literature, for the French translation of From a Low and Quiet Sea. With the quirky and brilliant Queen of Dirt Island (2022) in between, Heart, Be at Peace is his eighth work of fiction.

Heart, Be at Peace portrays the impact of the Irish economic downturn on a small community and is narrated through various characters, each of whom offers an individual perspective on Ireland’s fluctuating landscape.