This wonderful, poignant book has quite rightly been shortlisted for the Booker Prize this year.

Claire Keegan has deftly weaved a story around her own experiences as a child in Ireland and the intimacy is lovingly explored in this book.

The setting of the mid eighties is inspired as it fills the reader with nostalgia and therefore the emotional punch of the story is all the more telling.

It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces his busiest season.

As he does his rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.

A captivating tale, quite short, but powerful none the less, and although at times a difficult read it actually is an unforgettable story of hope, quiet heroism and tenderness.