Rónán Hession’s first novel, 2019’s Leonard and Hungry Paul, won the word-of-mouth success that small publishers dream of, and it hasn’t stopped rolling yet: shortlisted for half a dozen prizes, it recently made the One Dublin One Book choice for people across Hession’s home city to read. Though his life had been largely quiet and uneventful, his choices had turned out to be wise ones: he had already lived longer than Alexander The Great, and had fewer enemies too. I think I would have enjoyed this far more if it hadn’t had so many unreal or cliched events/characters/conversations. There are several scenes (yes, you, IT Help Desk Guy) that seem to be there with an eye to the movie. In fact, large parts of the book seem to be written with a movie version in mind. But there are also bits that are frankly unbelievable (a huge cash prize for a competition and only 3 entrants, getting a job with the mime association because you can’t think of anything to say in an impromptu speech?). I don’t mind unbelievable events in a novel, but this doesn’t feel like that kind of novel. Leonard and Hungry Paul are two friends who see the world differently. They use humour, board games and silence to steer their way through the maelstrom that is the 21st century. Oh, I loved this book! I liked how Hession showed us these two men slowly and gently, revealing their strengths and flaws, as we got to know them. They are grounded in their home life, in the people they love and care for, and in those who care for them. They don’t make waves, they’re not out to change the world, or even their corner of it.

The next book to be featured on the Jo Whiley Radio 2 Book Club will be Leonard and Hungry Paul, the brilliant debut novel by Rónán Hession. It is released on 20 March and Ronan will be on the show on Monday 18 March. Leonard took off his noise-cancelling/society-repelling headphones and went to the kitchenette for a mid-morning cup, even though he always disliked the awkward wait for the water to boil and the prospect of the kettle-related time-killing small talk. It was hard to put his heart into it at times when all his good ideas were either rejected without being understood, or appropriated and credited to someone else.’The limited plot is mercifully free of coincidence or twists – if I had a criticism it would be that some scenes (an out-of-date chocolates incident and a IT-helpdesk colleague) seem to be lifted from a sit-com. Bluemoose Books is an independent publisher based in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, and describes itself as a “‘family’ of readers and writers, passionate about the written word and stories, [who] delight in finding great new talent.” Admirably in 2020 they have committed to a woman-only list for 2020.

The thing is, as a child the world looked huge, intimidatingly so. School looked big. Adults looked big. The future looked big. But I am starting to feel that over time I have retreated into a smaller world. I see people rushing around and I wonder – where are they going to? Who are they meeting? Their lives are so full. I’m trying to remember if my life was ever like that.” They’re a strange choice of protagonists: two fundamentally nice guys in their thirties who share a love for facts and enjoy playing board games together. Neither seem in tune with the twenty-first century. Hungry Paul doesn’t even have a mobile phone. What they do have is a close friendship, one in which they share a deep interest in what the other person has to say. Hungry Paul … his best and only true friend. A man who had stood by him through everything and who had always reserved a space in his (admittedly quite) life just for Leonard. Their friendship was not just one of convenience between two quiet, solitary men with few other options. It was a pact. A pact to resist the vortex of busyness and insensitivity that had engulfed the rest of the world. It was a pact of simplicity, which stood against the forces of competitiveness and noise. The quiet, unobtrusive and meaning-filled book is the story of two friends – Leonard and Hungry Paul – both quiet 30-ish year old men living quiet, unobtrusive but still meaning-filled lives, still based in their childhood homes. Leonard edits and ghost writes children’s encyclopedias and is set in his ways. His best friend, Hungry Paul is sort of the same; he lives with his parents AND lives off them as he doesn’t really have a 9/5 job. He’s comfortable with his life and has his rituals and routines.

Selection panel review

Leonard and Hungry Paul, by Rónán Hession, is a novel of wry intelligence wrapped around the quiet rhythms of ordinary lives as they are being lived. The apparent simplicity of the narrative carries the reader through moments of insight as characters speak from their hearts on everyday dilemmas. The rarity of such truthfulness in conversation and the skill with which thoughts and feelings are conveyed make this a singular read. They meet up regularly, more regularly than most people see their friends. Weekly board games of Scrabble on a Sunday night are a routine. To prep for the working week ahead. Leonard, Paul and Paul’s parents Helen & Peter. Pitting wits against, and talking to each other (imagine!). It’s safe. It’s routine. It’s comfortable. This is the peace evoked by Ronan Hession’s voice. It’s his voice even more than his story of two single men in their thirties who live their lives as well as they can. This voice comes in at moments when the stillness—of death, of rejection, of nothing at all—takes over.