Description

From an exciting new voice in Irish fiction, a powerful novel set on an Irish clifftop – a story about duty, despair and the chance encounters upon which fate turns.

Micheal Burns lives alone in his family’s bungalow at the end of Kerry Head in Ireland. It is a picturesque place, but the cliffs have a darker side to them: for generations they have been a suicide black spot. Micheal’s mother saw the saving of these lost souls – these visitors – as her spiritual duty, and now, in the wreckage of his life, Micheal finds himself continuing her work. When his sisters tell him that they want to sell the land, he must choose between his siblings and the visitors, a future or a past.

Publisher Review

Noel O'Regan writes beautifully. Though the Bodies Fall is a beautiful book -- Audrey Magee I opened it up one evening and was instantly captivated... The atmosphere is haunting; the imagery so powerful that it gave me strange dreams. This novel is a little bit uncanny and a little bit archaic but also incredibly contemporary and prescient -- Sara Baume I was immediately drawn into O'Regan's delicately wrought debut by the tenderness he has for his characters, and by the quiet power that builds beneath the surface of his storytelling -- Carys Davies O'Regan writes with compassion, humour and imaginative force, signalling the arrival of a major new voice in Irish writing -- Claire Kilroy It is rare and wonderful to encounter a talent like O'Regan - his prose is poetic, sweeping yet also so intimate, speaking to the quietest parts of ourselves and exploring how we experience our humanity when no one is looking. I cannot shake this novel; it is haunting and beautiful -- Victoria Kennefick An absorbing and tender novel written in nuanced, luminous prose. A stunning debut from a talented new voice in Irish fiction -- Danielle McLaughlin Touching and insightful, O'Regan has penned a tender debut novel about one man's struggle to save the many broken souls, including his own, on Kerry Head -- Anne Griffin Written with tenderness and a starkly beautiful sense of place, Though the Bodies Fall grapples fearlessly with the most profound questions: what is the worth of a human life? What does it cost to be endlessly in service to others? Where is the line between devotion and obsession? A dark dream of a novel that holds you in its grip till the very last line -- Eimear Ryan, author of Holding Her Breath Haunting and beautiful. Darkly compelling -- Callan Wink