Remembrance Sunday

A powerful and deeply resonant novel about compassion, the legacy of violence and the weight of history, spanning contemporary New York as well as The Troubles in Northern Ireland Chinatown, New York. After a chance encounter with an old friend, Simon Hanlon - an Irish architect - experiences a seizure, his first in almost thirty years. Soon, they come to him daily. As he awaits a brain operation, Simon turns his mind back to his childhood on a farm near the Irish border. At fifteen, he was present when an IRA bomb exploded at the Remembrance Sunday parade in Enniskillen. It was in the following weeks that his seizures first began. Now, he is compelled to seek out the bomber from the remnants of his past, and to ask himself the question- Why do we harm each other? Remembrance Sunday is a moving and unforgettable novel about love, empathy and the ways in which history imprints itself upon our hearts and minds.

About the Author :
DARRAGH MCKEON was born in 1979 and grew up in the midlands of Ireland. His debut novel All That is Solid Melts into Air was published in 2014 to widespread international acclaim and was translated into nine languages. It was a New York Times Editors' Choice, and in France won the Lire Prize for Best International Debut. Since then, Darragh has returned to live in the west of Ireland.

Review :
McKeon’s writing is sensitive, elusive and philosophical, and pursues an elusive truth at the heart of the Troubles.’ Deeply felt and delicate, Remembrance Sunday is a timely evocation of the havoc the Troubles wreaked, not just on the street, but on the soul McKeon animates a story out of the North's recent history with much skill and empathy. Complicating the commonplace, attempting to make sense of the senseless, the novel is an impressive and moving act of imagination and remembrance A stunning achievement. I was completely gripped by it and awed at the sublime skill and beauty of its execution. Darragh has created a work of art of immediate relevance and enduring importance A beautifully wrought, startlingly perceptive, stealthily gripping novel about the pain of understanding ourselves and the agony of trying to understand history. It moves masterfully between the forensic and the lyrical, the meditative and the dramatic, the personal and the political 'Darragh McKeon's Remembrance Sunday is a quiet work of art that explores the complexity of trauma in the wake of the Enniskellen bombing. McKeon's writing is sensitive, elusive and philosophical, and pursues an elusive truth at the heart of the Troubles.' Beautifully written 'Thought-provoking ... strong second novel' 'A poignant, delicately composed novel that doesn't stint on the wreckage of violence.' McKeon ... is a writer to watch. He conveys how people who cause harm can sometimes be victims, in their own way, and that takes skill. If you enjoy Colum Mcann's work, this novel is for you.'