The Blurb
Jack is just twelve years old when he rushes down the hill after his mother's car on his bike, desperate to reach her before she reaches the lake.
What happens next cannot be undone. Jack's life changes just at the moment he is entering those dizzying years when he will transition from boy to man; when nothing makes sense at the best of times.
Yet Jack is not alone. Enveloped as he is by his extended family - his ferociously loving Nana; Grandad, given to sudden bursts of rage; his earthy uncles Haulie and Theo who want to show him what it means to be a man, and the irascible JJ who resents him deeply. Then there is beautiful aunt Rose, whose mere presence ignites every atom in his changing body.
But how can a boy with so many questions, in a family with so many secrets, understand the person he is becoming? Without his mother to ground him on the earth, will he spin off into the stars?
The stunning, emotional story of a young boy coming of age just as his life is thrown into new waters. Beautifully poignant, deeply lyrical and layered, this is a novel that resonates beyond the page.
My Review
The Author
This is my first Donal Ryan novel although he has published several previous books and been longlisted and shortlisted for many awards and won several prizes. I wasn't sure what to expect and his is a writing style I'm not used to. He doesn't use speech marks which I thought I would struggle with a little but I found as I got absorbed in the story I forgot they weren't there.
Jack is twelve when he loses his mother, and her death puts his already emotionally unstable father into a mental hospital. Jack is taken to live with his mum's family who, although they live nearby, he has not spent much time with. His fiercely catholic Nana and Grandad, their unmarried sons Theo, Haulie and JJ, and their daughter Rose take him in to their home. Jack doesn't really know what to expect from them or why they expect of him. He knows he is loved deeply and is completely accepted into the bosom of the family. But he worries. He misses his mum so much but doesn't understand why he's not crying, why he's not grieving. And all the while he is growing up - we meet him in the cusp of his teens and follow him for a couple of years.
I loved the family, all of them, but particularly Theo and Haulie. They are manly men, rough and tough, comfortable in themselves, larger than life, full of banter, but tender when they need to be. Nana sounds lovely, full of warmth, tea and cake on the go. And she's determined that Jack knows how much he is cared for. Jack's relationship with JJ, his uncle, but only a couple of years older than him, gets off to a tricky start but they soon develop a rhythm. His grandad is head of the house but we all know that for most of the time, the real boss is Nana. And then there is his auntie Rose, the family member for who causes Jack the most angst, as she causes feelings he doesn't understand, urges he's pretty sure he shouldn't be having. It's a lot for a young boy to process, especially after the loss of his mum, who was, of course, daughter and sister to these lovely folk.
We follow Jack through days where not much happens, on day trips, on a holiday, visits from and to his dad,and when his memorable great aunt Gertrude comes to stay. We see his interactions with family, friends, girls and others, and we feel his confusion about it all. And we see the gaping hole his mother has left in his life. Sometimes it's not clear whether something is in Jack's imagination, in a dream or whether it's actually happening, but it doesn't detract, particularly as Jack doesn't always realise himself which is going on.
The author has a very lyrical way of writing meaning a lot of this read as poetic prose. There are plenty of Irish words used but I was able to follow everything without any bother (special credit to Tom Read Wilson as thanks to his Edinburgh Fringe show I knew the word 'gee'). Where are the Kings is a beautiful coming of age novel about life, death, grief, love and family. And Jack finds his kings. Gorgeous.
The Author
He has won several awards for his fiction, including the European Union Prize for Literature, the Guardian First Book Award and six Irish Book Awards, and has been shortlisted for several more, including the Costa Book Award and the Dublin International Literary Award. He was nominated for the Booker Prize in 2013 for his debut novel, The Spinning Heart, and again in 2018, for his fourth novel, From A Low and Quiet Sea. The Spinning Heart was voted Irish Book of the Decade in 2016. In 2021 Donal became the first Irish writer to be awarded the Jean Monnet Prize for European Literature.
His most recent novel, Heart Be at Peace, won both Novel of the Year and Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards, and was shortlisted for Novel of the Year at the Nero Book Awards.
His work has been adapted for stage and screen and translated into over twenty languages.
Donal has lectured in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick since 2014 and lives in Castletroy with his wife Anne Marie and their two children.
