The Political Map of the Heart

A doomed love affair against the backdrop of Ulster's troubles This convincing and evocative novel may lack the terrors of involvement and love across the sectarian divide, none the less, it explores the universal confusions and complexities of adolescence from an original perspective. C.L. Dallat in The Times Literary Supplement Pat's teenage romance with the lovely Elaine is tenderly related, their innocent relationship at odds with violence around them.With understated compassion, Gray shows a family torn apart and a love tainted by political divisions. His novel is blissfully free of sentimentality and endless rain that plagues so much Irish fiction. Lisa Allardice in The Independent on Sunday