Prestige Drama by Seamas O'Reilly (Fleet £14.99, 192pp) is a new novel from the author of the acclaimed memoir Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?. Set in present-day Derry, the story revolves around the making of a lavish American TV series about the darkest days of the 1970s Troubles. The protagonist, Diarmuid, is the show's blocked screenwriter, but scripts are not the only thing missing: the city buzzes when A-list actress Monica Logue goes AWOL. The slender central mystery feels like an aside; it is the voices of local bit-part players who narrate that make this such an entertaining read. Furious, cynical, satirical, and opportunistic, they consistently challenge the platitudes and cliches in which their recent past is now packaged.
A Sense of Occasion by Brodie Crellin
A Sense of Occasion by Brodie Crellin (Jonathan Cape £16.99, 320pp) is a hotly tipped debut bookended by two car journeys a few days apart. It begins with moneyed twentysomething would-be playwright Jude returning to England from Italy for her aunt Mary's funeral, and ends with Patch, Jude's poor-relation cousin and Mary's long-suffering daughter, driving off into the distance. Ostensibly not a lot happens in between, although what does occur is both shocking and seismic as already fluid sexual boundaries blur further between the pair. Trigger warning dispensed, this is a cracking read, unapologetic in its transgression: a dark domestic comedy of kinks and class, neuroses and not-so-passive aggression. Its characters range from the generally dysfunctional (put-upon permanent outsider Patch) to the gleefully poisonous (coked-up Jude and her toxic mother). While the final stages lose some momentum, it is a wickedly sharp and impressive first outing for those with the stomach.
At Sea by Y. M. Abdel-Magied
At Sea by Y. M. Abdel-Magied (Canongate £16.99, 240pp) is a tale of hubris and negligence from the Sudanese-born former mechanical engineer. The plot arc is simple: a countdown to an at-sea tragedy based on the Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 and resulted in the worst oil spill in US history. The protagonist is Zainab, a highly experienced driller drafted onto the Clarissa Clyde rig at short notice with a single, ominous instruction: 'Make sure everyone gets out alive.' Surviving at sea, however, is part of Zainab's skill-set; she is used to contorting herself to achieve acceptance as a hijab-wearing woman in an unashamedly bigoted environment. A tragic personal backstory feels somewhat sketched in; the novel is at its best evoking the unrelenting tension accompanying Zainab's work.
