All That Is Solid Melts Into Air

Moscow, 1986. In a run-down apartment block, a piano prodigy practices silently to avoid disturbing the neighbours. In a factory, his aunt makes car parts, hiding her dissident past. In the hospital, a talented surgeon buries himself in his work. And in a village in Ukraine, a boy wakes up to a sky of deepest crimson. In the fields, the cattle's ears are dripping blood. Ten miles away, at the Chernobyl Power Plant, something unimaginable has happened. Now their lives will change forever.

All That Is Solid Melts Into Air is an electrifying novel about extraordinary lives in remarkable times.

Born in 1979, Darragh McKeon grew up in the midlands of Ireland and spent most of his twenties as a theatre director. He has worked in many reputable venues such as The Royal Court (London), The Young Vic (London), Steppenwolf (Chicago) and many disreputable venues such as a derelict bakery, a metro carriage and a slaughterhouse. His writing has been shortlisted for the Francis MacManus Short Story Award and the Filmbase/RTE Short Film Award. This is his first novel.