I did a wee bit of research and assembled a list of Irish authors (ones not named Joyce) that I wanted to read. In doing so, I quickly discovered that few contemporary Irish novelists are getting more buzz than Donal Ryan—and for good reason.

From a Low and Quiet Sea begins not in Ireland, but in Syria with the first of three seemingly unrelated stories. Ryan is adept at moving between vignettes, not only from Syria to Ireland but from dogma to angst and from anguish to indifference. This is actually three novellas braided into one incredible aggregate. I’m not generally a connoisseur of modern fiction but this engaged me. I have never read anything quite like this before.