Unspoken

17 June 1959.It's Election Day in Ireland, but Ann Strong has other things on her mind. Terrified of miscarriage after losing her last baby, she is admitted into the labour ward of St Gerard's hospital. Outside, her husband Fonsie waits anxiously with four other fathers-to-be. Men of their time, they scarcely speak to each other. But their children, born together on this day, will grow up in a changed world that questions and connects.

31 December 1961. Gavin Bloom is floor manager on the first ever live television broadcast in Ireland. It's a prestigious job, but a part of him feels a fraud. Though talking is what he does best, there is one thing Gavin never speaks about -- not even to himself.

10 October 1964. Dom, a brash, clever, reckless politician with a beautiful wife, sees himself as an Irish JFK. When he is prosecuted for drunk driving, his career seems to be over. But then he and the policeman who has charged him come face to face in court. They don't exchange a word, but something happens between them that changes Dom's life and propels him to help change the life of every child in the country.

Unspoken charts the interlocking stories of a group of unforgettable characters through the 1960s, a tumultuous decade during which Ireland threw off some ancient shackles yet assumed other, more modern ones. Alive with character and understated ambition, it is both a magnificent work of literature and an absolute delight.