All that is solid melts into air

In this debut novel, Darragh McKeon, nominated for Best New Author at the Irish Book Awards, chronicles how the lives of his four protagonists are permanently affected by the Chernobyl accident, while tracing the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In a decrepit Moscow building, nine-year-old Yevgeny plays the piano quietly so as not to disturb his neighbors. His affinity for music, however, doesn't protect him from the bullying he suffers from the older boys who study with him. His mother, Alina, senses her son is lying to her, but doesn't have time to confront him, as she's compensating for her dead husband's absence with two jobs.

Alina's sister, Mária, is a former dissident who works in an auto parts factory. She also goes to Lomonosov twice a week to teach English. In her spare time, she tries to overcome the ghosts of her past brought back by a third job, which haunt her to this day.

Two hundred kilometers away, in Pripyat, reactor 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explodes.

At a hospital, also in Moscow, surgeon Grigori dedicates every waking hour to work, to spend less time thinking about his failed marriage. When summoned to Chernobyl, he'll have to put his other skills to the test to deal with the denialism he encounters there.

In a village in Gomel, Belarus, thirteen-year-old Artyom wakes up one morning to find the sky different. It's dark. His father, a nonbeliever, jokes that it's the same sky as always, just in a bad mood. But two days later, a soldier knocks on his door, ordering his family to evacuate their home.

And their lives will never be the same again.

“The protagonists of McKeon's story may have been forgotten, but this flawless novel made them immortal.” — The New York Times

“McKeon's addictive writing builds complex characters who try to find meaning in life amid the chaos of the Chernobyl accident.” — Booklist

“McKeon's novel delivers what many promise: a reminder that human beings can bring about their own downfall.” — Publishers Weekly

"Bold, ambitious, and moving. McKeon portrays his characters' daily struggles with great empathy. A reflection beyond the historical moment." — Colm Tóibín