What would it feel like to fall from a great height? In this highly accomplished third novel, this is a sensation that characters experience both physically, high diving at the local swimming pool, and metaphorically, plunging into despair when they lose their most uplifting relationships.

The absorbing plot moves between Belfast and Brighton, culminating on 12 October 1984, when a bomb exploded at Brighton’s Grand hotel, where Margaret Thatcher was staying during the Conservative party conference.

The author powerfully uses a prismatic range of perspectives: Dan, an IRA bomber; Moose, the deputy manager of the hotel; and Moose’s 18-year-old daughter, Freya. The political is intricately interwoven with the personal and the novel’s most moving sections chronicle the implosion of Moose’s marriage and morale.

Lee dives deep into the minds and hearts of his characters, skilfully shoring up “the private moments history so rarely records”.

High Dive is published by William Heinemann (£16.99). Click here to order it for £11.89