Description

Book Synopsis

This is the story of a haunted Irish childhood.

The setting is Derry in the Northern Ireland of the 40s and 50s, fraught with political hatred, family secrets and lethal intrigue. As a young boy tries to make sense of life, poverty and violence shift and obscure the facts; meanwhile his night-time reading of Irish legends weaves enchantment through reality. Claustrophobic but lyrically charged, breathtakingly sad but vibrant and unforgettable, this is one of the finest books about growing up – in Ireland or anywhere – that has ever been written.

See also: The Green Road by Anne Enright



Trade Review
Reading In The Dark is a swift, masterful transformation of family griefs and political violence into something at once rhapsodic and heartbreaking. If Isaac Babel had been born in Derry, he might have written this sudden, brilliant book. * Seamus Heaney *
Marvellous...almost impossible to put down -- Blake Morrison * Independent on Sunday *
Go into your nearest bookshop and buy Reading In The Dark... A novel that no reader with any concern for their heart or mind should be without -- A. L. Kennedy * Scotsman *
A wonderful evocation of childhood; a vibrant, unforgettable fragment that leaves you aching for more -- Robert McCrum * Observer *
A profoundly emotive and seamlessly structured exploration of loss and regret. It is also funny and authentic. What more could one ask of a book? -- Antonia Logue * Guardian *

Reading in the Dark

    Product form

    A Paperback / softback by Seamus Deane

    £9.49

    Includes FREE delivery

    RRP £9.99 – you save £0.50 (5%)

    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Tue 29 Sep 2026.

    7 in stock

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      Book details

      Publisher Penguin Random House Group
      Imprint Vintage Classics
      Published 2 May 2019
      ISBN-13 9781784875534
      978-1784875534
      ISBN-10 1784875538
      Also in:
      Historical Fiction

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      This is the story of a haunted Irish childhood.

      The setting is Derry in the Northern Ireland of the 40s and 50s, fraught with political hatred, family secrets and lethal intrigue. As a young boy tries to make sense of life, poverty and violence shift and obscure the facts; meanwhile his night-time reading of Irish legends weaves enchantment through reality. Claustrophobic but lyrically charged, breathtakingly sad but vibrant and unforgettable, this is one of the finest books about growing up – in Ireland or anywhere – that has ever been written.

      See also: The Green Road by Anne Enright



      Trade Review
      Reading In The Dark is a swift, masterful transformation of family griefs and political violence into something at once rhapsodic and heartbreaking. If Isaac Babel had been born in Derry, he might have written this sudden, brilliant book. * Seamus Heaney *
      Marvellous...almost impossible to put down -- Blake Morrison * Independent on Sunday *
      Go into your nearest bookshop and buy Reading In The Dark... A novel that no reader with any concern for their heart or mind should be without -- A. L. Kennedy * Scotsman *
      A wonderful evocation of childhood; a vibrant, unforgettable fragment that leaves you aching for more -- Robert McCrum * Observer *
      A profoundly emotive and seamlessly structured exploration of loss and regret. It is also funny and authentic. What more could one ask of a book? -- Antonia Logue * Guardian *

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