Synopses & Reviews
In the south of Ireland, just beyond the town of New Rowan, young Michael McDonagh is growing up fast. The same families have lived in his village for generations, harboring old loyalties and obscure conflicts, and a person's name casts a long shadow. Sometimes it seems that strangers know more about Michael than he knows about himself.
Surrounded by the rough-hewn, often bloodied, hard-drinking men of the town, Michael longs for his father, gone off to work in America. He cares for his mother, racked by spells that put her somewhere between this world and the next. And he becomes involved with Cait, a local girl who hides a dark past of her own.
When a neighbor Cait's mother dies suddenly, Michael's father returns home, and a long-dormant scandal is reignited. This ancient land conceals perfectly modern shame and treachery, and on the cusp of adulthood Michael must decide whom he truly loves, whom he will protect, and how far he will go to uncover the truth. Writing with a fierce attention to the rhythms, voices, and beauty of modern Ireland, Thomas O'Malley delivers an unforgettable and deeply affecting novel about sons, fathers, love, and forgiveness.
Review
"While the story here is indeed quite captivating, it's O'Malley's prose that will keep readers in awe. He is a remarkable new voice." Booklist
Review
"...a brilliant coming-of-age story....Rich with unforgettable symbols and episodes....highly recommended" Library Journal
Synopsis
O'Malley sets a haunting local mystery against the tense backdrop of a country tormented by bloodshed and deep schisms.- In the tradition of Seamus Deane and John McGahern, a stirring, beautifully written, but unsentimental portrait of an Irish boyhood.- Thomas O'Malley's work has appeared in literary journals such as "Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, Shenandoah, Gulf Stream, and "Blue Mesa Review.
About the Author
Thomas O'Malley grew up in Ireland and England. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Boston and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he has been a Returning Writing Fellow and recipient of the Grace Paley Endowed Fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts.