This debut novel is a dark reimagining of 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin'. Things in the town of
Upperdown are not as they seem. The Professor struggles with his devotion to proving the
Riemann Hypothesis and he walks the streets seeking a solution whilst battling his own
deeper preoccupations. The appearance of a stranger in town, the Piano Man, leads to the
resolution of the rat infestation but when the town's children start to go missing it is clear
something darker has been set in motion.
'Unforgettable. Brennan's strikingly original voice blends myth and magic with wry
observation as he evokes the liminal world of Upperdown. A dazzlingly good novel.
Visceral and daring, it hums with its own dark, unsettling magic. A mesmerising read.
David Brennan's fierce and lyrical writing seduces the reader with the peculiar beauty
of numbers, while staring unflinchingly into the dark corners of the human
heart. Whether writing about quantum physics or the jealousies of the human heart,
Brennan's prose is fierce, haunting and compelling.'
Danielle McLaughlin -author of 'Dinosaurs On Other Planets' and recipient of the Windham-
Campbell Prize for Fiction 2019.
'David Brennan's clever Irish debut presents a deeply unsettling world...and gives us a
vibrant new take on an age old story...The big success of Brennan's book...is in the
unique voice'
Review of Upperdown by Sarah Gilmartin in The Irish Times on Saturday 29th June.
