Keep It Together

by Mark Ryan

In the summer of 1977, three invitations draw the scattered Van-Black family back to Nova Manor for an Independence Day gathering that promises more than celebration. Christine Mason has spent years holding her life together while keeping her distance from the family that shaped her. Her sister Diane faces her own quiet battles as she tries to balance love, work and a body that is beginning to betray her. When the family reunites, old wounds rise to the surface, strange events unsettle the house and long buried secrets begin to stir. Keep it Together is a story of pressure, privilege, quiet crime and the fragile ties that bind a family even as something darker watches from the edges.

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 11, 2016

About the author

Mark Ryan is a poet and storyteller whose work explores transformation, identity and the quiet pull of the metaphysical. Born in Oxford and shaped by a lifelong fascination with film, myth and the unseen, he writes across poetry, fiction and hybrid forms.

His collections include ‘Graffitied Heart’, ‘Everyday Miracles’, ‘Everyday Nightmares’ and ‘Leviathan of the Soul’. His fiction ranges from the murder mystery ‘Keep It Together’ to the hybrid novel ‘The Gospel of No One’, which blends poetry and prose to explore belief, fractured identity and meaning.

His writing is known for its emotional resonance, atmospheric detail and the sense of hope threaded through even its darkest themes. He invites readers into work that challenges, comforts and lingers.

Favourite quote: "Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music."