Mouthing

(Paperback)

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Sharp-eyed and sharp-tongued, a multi-generational portrait of life in rural Ireland from a bracing new talent in literary fiction Welcome to Ballyrowan. This sleepy corner of Ireland may seem tranquil but scratch the surface and you'll find a hotbed of gossip and intrigue - endless material for mouthing - and a town full of people only too happy to oblige in spreading the bad news. Narrated by several generations of villagers, Mouthing traces the misadventures of one small community from the mid-20th century to the early 21st in a series of highly confessional, darkly humorous, sharply observed monologues. These are people who delight in twisting the knife, perfecting the art of schadenfreude over many decades. And, it becomes clear, none of them are entirely reliable witnesses. As each one tells their version of events, revealing contradictory versions of 'the truth', we see how feuds are passed down through the generations, how families are estranged or reunited and fortunes made or lost, how strict social expectations can shift and loosen over time (and how some things remain stubbornly unchanged). Mouthing is an acerbic, unsentimental love letter to rural Ireland, where everyone knows everyone else's business and everyone has an opinion on it - where 'community' is both a lifeboat and a life sentence.

Reviews

Terrifically sharp-witted and deeply moving, Orla Mackey's novel crackles with intelligence and life. Reading these pages I had the feeling, time and again, of stepping into a moving current -- Chetna Maroo, author of 'Western Lane'
Mouthing is full of disgrace, inherited trauma and family secrets that spill all over the back roads of Ossory. A book of testimonies and intertwined destinies that will make you laugh, because if you didn't you'd surely cry -- Aingeala Flannery, author of 'The Amusements'
Intimate and panoramic, a raucous gathering of voices: full of humour, pierced with longing, caught between connection and claustrophobia. Compassionate but clear-eyed, angry and elegiac, Mouthing is a portrait of our confused and often destructive yearning for grace -- Colin Walsh, author of 'Kala'
A wonderful novel full of memorable characters and charming voices. I was absorbed, amused and moved by Orla Mackey's masterful depiction of so-called ordinary life in all its richness and complexity -- Ben Hinshaw, author of 'Exactly What You Mean'

Author Bio

Orla Mackey is a writer and teacher based in Kilkenny in Ireland. She studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin. Mouthing is her first novel.