Description

‘A profound examination of friendship, romantic confusion and mortality’ John Boyne

One summer’s evening, two men meet up in a Dublin restaurant. Old friends, now married and with grown-up children, their lives have taken seemingly similar paths. But Joe has a secret he has to tell Davy, and Davy a grief he wants to keep from Joe. Both are not the men they used to be.

As two pints turns to three, then five, Davy and Joe set out to revisit the haunts of their youth. With the ghosts of Dublin entwining around them – the pubs, the parties, the broken hearts and bungled affairs – the men find themselves face-to-face with the realities of friendship.

Publisher Review

Masterly... A first-rate novel about the different bonds between men and the ineffable mysteries of love. -- Claire Allfree * Daily Mail * Doyle is justly renowned for his whip-smart dialogue... And there is beauty and compassion in Mr Doyle's sculpted, spare writing. Among all the banter and gags he manages to articulate feelings that are rarely expressed so fittingly... Love is a reminder that its author is one to treasure. * Economist * Fast-paced and deceptively easy to read... Goes down as smoothly as gulps of beer. * Boston Globe * Love is altogether spellbinding... The whole book is audacious, richly layered and often comic, but ultimately deeply moving... Move over Socrates and watch an Irish master of dialogue at work. -- David Monagan * Irish Examiner * So perfectly constructed it is hard to believe it is really just about two old school friends getting drunk, and drunker... [Love] seems to bottle what male friendship can be like. -- Chris Harvey * Irish Independent *