Ripples on the Lake

Both lyrical and raw, Ripples on the Lake weaves a tapestry of love, loss, and redemption against the backdrop of 1980s Ireland and Britain.

Plot

Ripples on the Lake follows John’s journey from rural Ireland to London’s unforgiving streets. Both lyrical and brutally honest, the story begins with an idyllic summer in Ireland where the story of blossoming young love occurs against the backdrop of family dysfunction and societal division. When John is forced to leave, heartbroken, for university in England, he spirals into a world of alcohol, drugs, and eventually, football hooliganism. The author masterfully navigates the complexities of trauma and alienation; each page resonates with profound insights into the human condition, revealing universal truths through one man’s deeply personal odyssey.

Reviews

O’Dea’s insightful writing gives us a timely reminder that in desperation, even enlightened minds can be drawn to a mindless cause.
Lily de Sylva

Brought to life by a blend of exquisite narrative and stimulating ideology, this story flows in a truly unique voice which relates the outlook of our character with engrossing, emotive detail. A must-read.
Joanna Foley-Carroll

O’Dea’s painterly writing extracts shards of our existence and holds them up to the light, creating conversations that become dreamlike and moments of stark reality distorted by altered perception.
Anise Eden, author of Things Unseen