Long Way Back
by Brendan Halpin 

Being a lapsed catholic I usually shy away from religious themed books. This appeared to be about music, but the main characters, Clare and Francis turned out to be Catholics. Sneaky, but thankfully, their religion was a theme, but not the focus and they were portrayed as well-rounded people rather than born again botherers.
 
The story starts with the brother an sister from Boston in their rebellious teenage years following onto being responsible adulthood, where they both face tragic experiences which prompts Francis to lose his faith in God, get tattoos and join a band, and Clare, who cares for dying people and has a family to raise,  to try to help him find who he is again.
 
Their relationship rings true, as does the dialogue which switched from serious to playfully mean in a moment. For a book involving personal grief and breakdown -which is remedied through the euphoria of listening to and playing music (Ramones, the Who, the Cure, Buzzcocks) and using it as a tool for recovery -it isn’t actually hard going, and although there are moments which made me well up, it’s a positive story that has some great moments and I’d definately recommend it.