We are wet paper in comparison.” How do you counteract the suspicion that you are merely wet paper? The novel is inventive if disjointed: the magic realism of the Siren plotline might have come from a different book. As Sammy sets about turning in his Fire Starter son, Jonathan assembles the medical instruments necessary to silence his daughter. The Fire Starters succeeds in dramatising the simmering volatility of a region that, with the looming post-Brexit threat of a hard border, could explode again. • The Fire Starters is published by Transworld (£14.99) go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846.

Source: The Guardian May 29, 2019 07:52 UTC