Seamus Deane Reading in the dark

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.