Falling Animals: A BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club Pick

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A months long investigation turns up nothing about who he was or came from, but the community have taken him into their hearts, claiming him as one of their own. The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The effect is some what like a combination of Reservoir 13 and Reservoir Tapes – although without the nature descriptions and seasonal patterns of the former – also while the reason for the disappearance become deliberately close to incidental in McGregor’s work (which focuses instead on the echoes it leaves behind) in this book the protagonists are much more closely involved and the identity of the man and the reason for him coming to die on the coast are (just about) made clear by the end.

I’ll admit, I went into this expecting something akin to Julia Armfield’s novel from last year, and although they bear only superficial resemblance, I would wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed that, or indeed anyone interested in hearing an exciting voice in new Irish fiction. A debut novel already receiving great plaudits and all very much deserved, Falling Animals is quite unlike anything I have read before. Despite glowing reviews from GR readers I follow, I was hesitant to pick up this debut novel by Sheila Armstrong, for no other reason than she is Irish. Though all of the threads tie back to the unknown man found dead on the beach which opens the story, the chapters are personal vignettes with glimpses into characters past lives, desires, and dreams rather.The next morning, the sea is flat and cool, like a drunk embarrassed by his antics the night before. each chapter felt like a perfectly crafted short story - I loved every one - but the final chapter was unsatisfying to me. Her voice sings, using perfect sentences to create unforgettable characters and landscapes, with a structure so deft it is breath taking.

I was delighted to spot Sheila Armstrong’s first novel in the publishing schedules having been so impressed with her short story collection, How to Gut a Fish. Very different; I liked the different chapters focussing on the individuals and how they may, or may not, be linked to the deceased. Sat cross legged staring out at sea, his identity is a mystery but while this may be the opening of the story it is not it’s beginning. This haunting novel is told through a series of vignettes, each one told through the perspective of a person who has reason to feel a connection to this man, either his backstory, or his passing contrail through their life. After she’s given her statement, Oona walks to the village pub to steady her nerves and regale her fellow drinkers with her news.The body of a man was found on a beach and despite an extensive police investigation, he was never identified.