Panenka

During a year where we are all just feeling raw, as though our nerve endings feel exposed to the world there is a great need for gentle books that explore emotions and the human condition in a non-traumatic way and Panenka does this beautifully.

This is a book of ordinary circumstances in an ordinary world happening to ordinary people but it is delivered and explored in such an extraordinary fashion with compassion and warmth that encourages you to empathise greatly with the characters and their plight without shredding your own emotional equilibrium.

It is such a fine tightrope to walk and get done perfectly but Rónán achieves it so well once more.

It follows a few months in the life of Panenka and the people that orbit around him. Their traumas, relationships and emotional connections are then revealed and it is in these revelations that Rónán excels in opening up the human condition but it is in such a non-voyeuristic manner that you never feel uncomfortable with it.

I loved every single word of this and it will be staying on my bookshelf for rereading and enjoying forever.

Panenka is due for release in May 2021 and I would advise you preorder this to get it in your hands as soon as possible.