The Book of the Gaels

(Paperback)

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Description

Rural West Cork, Ireland. Two Kids, Joseph and Paul, and their struggling, poet father, Fraser, are battling grief and poverty. When a letter arrives with a summons to Dublin and the promise of publication, it offers a chink of light the hope of rescue. But Dublin is a long, wet and hungry way from West Cork in the mid-70s, especially when they have no money just the clothes they stand up in and an old, battered suitcase.

So begins an almost anti-roadtrip of flipsides and contradictions dreams and nightmares, promises and disappointments, generosity and meanness, unconditional love and shocking neglect.

In simple, beautiful, lyrical prose, James Yorkston's new novel takes us on that trip, as seen through the eyes of a brave and resourceful but poor and frightened child. It tells of the emptying, paralysing pain of grief and loss, tempered only by the hope of rescue and the redemption of parental love. It also tells of Fraser's love for his children's dead mother, as hidden within the battered suitcase is Fraser's heart-breaking collection of poems The Book of the Gaels.

'James is a brilliant writer, he never fails to deliver something unique. I love this book, it's lonely, funny and reassuringly dark.' Sam Heughan, New York Times bestselling author and star of Outlander

'I absolutely love this book...An unsentimental and unflinching miracle of remembrance. Get it read!' Jarvis Cocker

Reviews

Funny and touching, The Book of the Gaels is a good story, beautifully told -- Susan Flockhart * Herald *
Powerful... There are echoes of Douglas Stewart's Shuggie Bain... This slim, punchy book is extraordinarily powerful * Times (Historical Fiction Book of the Month) *
James Yorkston's new novel is a dark and desperate odyssey * Scotsman *
There's no denying that this is a novel in a minor key, and yet its rhythms and cadences are constantly evolving, drawing the reader closer. Listen out for it and you'll even hear a note that might be described as poetic * Observer *
Funny, affectionate... The acclaimed folk singer's jewel of a novel follows a penniless poet dragging his young sons across Ireland * Telegraph *

Author Bio

James Yorkston is a singer-songwriter and author from the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. Since signing to Domino Records in 2001, James has released a steady flow of highly acclaimed albums worldwide. James debut novel 3 Craws (2016), has been studied in schools and colleges in the UK and America.