Synopsis
'Compassionate, lyrical and full of devilment' - Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses
'Beautifully written - gorgeous modern folklore' - Sarah Moss, author of Summerwater
'A novel of heart-bumping power and sparkling vividness . . . breathtaking' - Joseph O'Connor, author of Star of the Sea
'I was gripped' - Emma Donoghue
1973. In a close-knit fishing community on Ireland’s west coast, a baby is found abandoned on the beach. Named Brendan by Ambrose Bonnar, the fisherman who adopts him, the baby captivates the town and the boy he grows to be will captivate them still – no one can quite fathom Brendan Bonnar.
For Christine, Ambrose’s wife, Brendan brings both love and worry. For their existing son, his new brother’s arrival is the start of a life-long rivalry. And though Ambrose brings Brendan into his home out of love, it is a decision that will fracture his family and force this man – more comfortable at sea than on land – to try to understand himself and those he cares for.
Told over two decades, Garrett Carr's The Boy from the Sea is a novel about a restless boy trying to find his place in the world and a family fighting to hold itself together. It is a story of ordinary lives made extraordinary, a drama about a community who can’t help but look to the boy from the sea for answers as they face the storm of a rapidly changing world.
Details
29 January 2026
9781035044573Reviews
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 achievementJoseph 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 grippedEmma 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
