Phoenix - J Dolan

Keeping a vigil at the Phoenix hospital bedside of his brother John, J. D. Dolan reflects on his family's troubled relationships. In this compelling portrait the Dolans come across, at first, as a fairly typical American family. And yet at the time of John's accident the brothers hadn't spoken in five years, continuing a family tradition of punishment through silence. Silence is prevalent in many contemporary family relationships. In Phoenix, Dolan offers emotional insights and succour for us all.

'Great writing is so rare and unexpected that it can take your breath away . . . In this slender memoir, J. D. Dolan condenses the pain of decades into tight, terse prose, and we are left shaken and moved' LA Times

'A riveting story of love, resentment and, in the end, catharsis' Sunday Times