When Shauna leaves Dublin City for the suburbs with her mother, Dean enters her life as part of a soon-to-be-inseparable foursome of friends navigating the trials and tribulations of adolescence. The spark of friendship quickly blossoms towards something more for Shauna and Dean but, with their own struggles and ties pulling them separate ways, they can’t seem to get to where it seems they are meant to be. Passion and tension simmer in equal measure beneath the surface as the forces around, and within, the two stand in their way.

From having read her debut novel, Boys Don’t Cry, I already knew that Scarlett deftly captures great depth of emotion and, in this regard, this latest novel picks up beautifully where her last one left off. Moving back and forth in time, between adolescence and adulthood, with the timelines slowly coming closer together, May All Your Skies Be Blue is a heartbreaking and deeply moving story of family and friendship, the complexities of adolescence, first love, loss and missed opportunity, regret, the pivotal choices we make and the ties that bind us; both in the responsibilities that fall on us, and in the deep bonds that remain over the years, despite what life throws our way. The writing style is immediate, emotive, at times almost stream-of-consciousness, getting us right into the moment, into our protagonist’s joys, fears, frustrations, and sorrows; drawing us in and building momentum towards that ending. I loved this book, there’s troubles and heartbreak but it’s also a poignant exploration of deep connections, bent but not broken by circumstance and time.

***

May All Your Skies Be Blue is published by Faber & Faber on February 13th.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the DRC.

***

Fíona Scarlett is from Dublin but now living in Co. Kildare, Ireland. Her debut novel Boys Don’t Cry was an international bestseller, shortlisted for Newcomer of the Year in the Irish Book Awards, and the Kate O’Brien first novel award. She was recently named as one of Ireland’s ‘New Voices, 20 Best New Irish Writers’ in conjunction with the Irish Book Awards 2024. She currently lecturers in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick.