All We Shall Know by Donal Ryan

The intensity of the novel’s opening lines does not abate as the story unfolds. In an insert at the end of the novel, entitled An Interview with Donal Ryan, Ryan responds to a question that his writing is bleak by saying that “I want the experience of reading my books to be intense and memorable and to count for something in the lives of my readers beyond a temporary distraction.” The author is certainly successful in this regard with All We Shall Know, the intensity of which resolutely remains in the mind and heart of the reader long after the book has been put back on the book shelf. Ryan also states in the interview that he likes to “shorten the gap between the reader and the page to the point where they can hear the voices of my characters and live their stories.” This aspiration also holds true. By the end of the novel, the reader feels as if they have inhabited the dark and beautiful spaces in the mind and soul of the protagonist.