Communion

Brimming with big themes - faith, masculinity, activism. Tense and absorbing * Observer, Best Debuts of 2026 *
There is also Doyle's exquisite way with words, his mastery of the small details that place you in the setting ...I was transported at times to rooms from my childhood, no small feat. * The Irish Times *
Communion splices lyrical language and dreamlike sequences with blunt, commonplace violence and some exhilarating action [...] Doyle has a keen sense for the kinds of memorable, cinematic images which this unique project of the town's Passion play affords him as a writer and he does not waste them. One to watch. * Shortlist, Best New Fiction Books for Spring 2026 *
Gritty and luminous, intelligent and sincere, a radical and transgressive novel in which the profane, the political and the personal are entirely rooted in the sacred. Communion is both tender and confrontational, an immaculate debut with dirt under its fingernails * Colin Walsh, author of Kala *
A precise, delicate novel about the complexities of belonging, which gradually and powerfully builds in spiritual intensity ... In prose both quotidian and mystical, Communion expands the possibilities of its title in every dimension and marks the arrival of an explosive new talent. * The Observer *
A book of rare grace and presence, Communion transported me from its opening pages. It is a deeply moving novel about faith, doubt and morality, held firm by a steady beat of love * Megan Hunter, author of Days of Light *
A highly original book that strips back the traditional architecture of the novel until each paragraph arrives like a short, beautiful breath, and in the silences between, the true voices of Port Talbot are able to sing through. A thrilling evocation of a community * Andrew McMillan, author of Pity *
A rare novel.Communion bears witness to quiet accumulating impacts, a tolling, calling out the fundamental question, what happens when the things at the centre of what we try to believe in gutter out, one by one? This is poignant, resounding writing. * Cynan Jones, author of Pulse *
Electric... A wonderful, brilliant piece of work. Just brilliant. This is someone with a voice, with something to say, with a natural talent * Kasim Ali, author of Good Intentions *
Astartling interrogation of class identity, Catholicism and masculinity. It questions whether community binds or blinds us, asking what it means to speak against the people and places we come from when the fabric of such places is under threat. This timely, prescient novel asks how communities might nourish us, and when they begin to cut us off from the wider world * Jessica Andrews, author of Milk Teeth *
Jon Doyle is a great new voice - and an important one. His work is real in the very best sense: exactly observed, often funny and unafraid of the greatest themes * Tom Bullough, author of Sarn Helen and Addlands *
A tantalising debut that talks about subjects that most contemporary fiction studiously avoids: faith, working-class identity, the question of how to live a moral, meaningful life... Mysterious and beguiling * Daily Mail *