The Boy from the Sea
06 February 2025Imprint: Picador
Synopsis
'Compulsive reading. Compassionate, lyrical and full of devilment' Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses
1973. In a close-knit community on Ireland’s west coast, a baby is found abandoned on the beach. Named Brendan Bonnar by Ambrose, the fisherman who adopts him, Brendan will become a source of fascination and hope for a town caught in the storm of a rapidly changing world.
Ambrose,...
Details
06 February 2025336 pages
9781035044559Imprint: Picador
Reviews
Compulsive reading . . . Compassionate, lyrical and full of devilmentLouise Kennedy, author of Trespasses
A novel of heart-bumping power and sparkling vividness, this book evokes the seethe and surge of an island nation's sea fables while being suspicious of sentiment, often wittily so. Its depiction of a stranger's arrival recalls great rural storytelling, from Jean de Florette to Synge's mouthy playboy and the country music mystery tales in which a newcomer rides into town. This is a strange, beautiful, truly compelling triumph, a story about a very specific place that somehow comes to seem an everywhere and a people who feel familiar as faces in mirrors. A breathtaking achievement.Joseph O'Connor, author of Star of the Sea and My Father's House
A ruefully funny portrait of a dysfunctional family in a struggling town, The Boy from the Sea rings painfully true. I was gripped.Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of Room
The Boy from the Sea is an utterly engrossing read. Atmospheric and incredibly moving, I was captivated by the trials and triumphs of the Bonnars. A bittersweet ballad of a novel I'll be thinking about for a very long timeJan Carson, author of The Raptures
