DNF - I was very grateful to receive a copy of this book, the summary made it seem amazing. However, it turned out that the writing style, more so the story telling, was not up my alley. This text went into side tangents about subjects that I was not necessarily invested in & therefore the flow felt quite bogged down. I think perhaps I thought the story would explore a different facet of the "boy from the sea" rather than be a domestic reflection on life on the seaside. I digress, this wasn't for me but I know other readers will love it.

I reached about the halfway point of this book before giving up. Here's why:

I expected an emotional story with a strong sense of atmosphere. I didn't get either.

I never got a sense of place. I couldn't picture this village.

We spent an inordinate amount of time learning about fishing boats, about fishing, and about the fishing industry. The “boy” had zero to do with any of this.

Our narrator is a nameless villager who was somehow omniscient, knowing all the thoughts, conversations, and feelings of the people involved. We jumped from one person's thoughts to another and so on, while remaining slightly removed from the emotions of it all. Imagine someone you don't know has observed some drama concerning a bunch of people you also don't know, in a place you know nothing about, and that person sits you down to tell you the story. That's what reading this book felt like.

And finally, those people weren't all that interesting. At the halfway point, virtually nothing of substance had happened.

I was bored and didn't care enough to see if there was a point to the story. But while this one wasn't for me, it might be the perfect book for you.

DNF

*Thanks to Knopf for the free copy!*

Really disliked this book. Could not get into it at all unfortunately. Wish it was more engaging. Disappointed.

THE BOY FROM THE SEA by Garrett Carr ~to be published May 13, 2025

There’s just something about Irish writers…

Our setting is a close-knit fishing village in 1970s Donegal, Ireland. The residents are a hardy, no-nonsense type, they are people who understand the nature of the world but who would never complain or philosophize about it because what’s the point? One morning, like Moses in his basket, the townsfolk find an abandoned baby boy in a fishing barrel that has come in with the tide. The story centers around the family who decide to adopt this boy and their journey raising him along with their biological son.

I often think of family sagas as being sweeping; this one, confined to a single generation, feels intimate and nuanced. Carr explores sibling rivalry, married life, coming of age, caring for elderly parents, and identity amidst larger societal changes in the fishing industry at the time.

It is quite a sad novel in some ways, poignant and bittersweet, but an absolute joy to read. The prose is beautiful. I could see this becoming one of my favorites of the year.

Thank you so much @aaknopf for the gifted arc! This review will be published on IG within the next week or so and I will add a link at that time.

The Boy from the Sea is a beautifully written novel set in the small fishing community of Killybegs, Donegal, Ireland in the 1970s-1990s. When an abandoned baby is found on the beach, Ambrose Bonnar brings the baby (later named Brendan) home to his wife Christine and two-year-old son Declan. The family takes him in, and their lives are profoundly altered. The story examines the complexities of family dynamics and the social changes taking place around them.

It is told in an unusual manner – by the collective townsfolk, which adds depth and perspective. The characters are well crafted and believable. Ambrose is a fisherman with a single boat, struggling to compete against the new larger commercial vessels. Christine worries about making ends meet and helping her sons get along. Declan is immediately jealous of Brendan and the brothers compete for their parents’ (especially their father’s) love. Christine’s sister Phyllis and elderly father Eunan live up the road and are not overly thrilled with the Bonnar family’s decision to adopt Brendan.

Carr nicely captures the nuances of personal interactions. I love how he conveys the differences in the ways the characters see the world. The prose is lyrical and atmospheric in its descriptions of the town and the surrounding land and sea. This story is intentionally slower paced and focused on relationships among the characters and townsfolk (it is not for anyone looking for lots of action). I found it a well-crafted memorable story that kept my interest from beginning to end. I think the ending is particularly poignant, showing how families can evolve over the years. Recommended to fans of family dramas and character-driven stories.

4.5

As a longtime lover of Irish literature, The Boy from the Sea delivered everything I was hoping for and more. I’m always drawn to family dramas, especially when they unfold against the atmospheric backdrop of the Irish coast, and this one pulled me in completely. The story is filled with a memorable cast of characters, each layered and compelling in their own way. I especially appreciated how the novel explores the theme of shame—how it lingers, silences, and drives people to bury the truth. It’s a beautifully written, emotionally resonant book that stayed with me long after I turned the final page.

I was unable to finish this book and thus will not be posting a full review. I did not enjoy the story, unfortunately, and could not continue. Thank you for the opportunity and consideration.

A story set in the fishing village of Killybegs, Donegal in the 1970’s and 80’s.
A baby boy washes up inside a half barrel, just days old and the local’s fall under his spell.
A fisherman and his wife who have a two year old son adopt this baby.
Beautifully written.. a story of family, sibling rivalry, and life in a close-knit fishing community.
The story is told by the local’s.
I really didn’t want this story to end!

It’s the Irish stories and authors that are my favorite!


Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf for the ARC given for an honest review!

The Boy from the Sea is a really moving, emotionally charged family drama, tracing the years of a family's life from when they first take in a young baby found in the sea (upsetting their toddler) to when both boys are grown.

I was expecting slightly more magical realism here, but perhaps that's my fault for misunderstanding the synopsis. It's a really stunning portrait of a family - sort of a slice of life told over years. I found some of the dynamics within the family challenging to connect to, and ultimately for me the story didn't feel as lived in as I would have hoped.

That said, it's a really well-written novel and I think it will definitely find it's audience!

Three stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Stunning family drama set on the coast in Ireland with the mystery of a baby boy brought from the sea. Descriptions of the characters, the village, the villagers, the roiling sea, fishing life…beautifully crafted! Dark and intense at times with the issues resulting from the adoption and family dynamics.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Thanks to #netgalley and #knopf publishing for the opportunity to read "The Boy from the Sea" by Garrett Carr. Being a big fan of Irish authors, Louise Kennedy for one, I spotted her blurbed recommendation for Mr. Carr's novel and requested it immediately. The premise sounded compelling and it proved to be just that. Well-written and carefully crafted.

A baby is found abandoned on the beach in a container by a local man within an insulated village off Donegal Bay - a working class town heavily reliant on fishing and manual labor. It is also a town in which everyone knows everyone and the arrival of this special little boy causes a flurry of wonder and excitement that morphs into different emotions and scenarios over the course of the novel.

The baby is adopted by the Bonnar family with the blessing of the village. One of the greatest characters in the novel is Declan - the resistant, newly anointed older "brother" of Brendan - after he is brought home by parents Ambrose and Christine.

Declan, from a young age, makes it clear that he resents this child and has no interest in being a brother to him. There is an obvious jealousy on Declan's part and some events and behaviors on the part of Ambrose, in particular, stoke those feelings. This is an important and troubling thread that weaves itself throughout the entire novel.

Garrett Carr creates a rich cast of characters within the village (especially within the fishing community) which adds tension in its overall financial importance and unreliability.. There is also Christine's sister and father, Phyllis and Eunan, who play significant roles in the book and add a lot of humor and tension throughout. I, personally, grew to love Phyllis as aspects of the Lyons' family backstory emerges and deeply appreciated the relationship between these sisters. This is very much a novel about family and how it is defined (biologically and otherwise)

A final theme that reemerges is shame -- amplified by Brendan during a conversation with his mother: "There's plenty of shame in this town, and shame makes people keep secrets.'" And there are plenty of those as well! A wonderful book!

Good book about family and the dynamics between family and siblings. Good character development. I loved the setting in Ireland.

This is a story in layers- on the surface its a simple story about a baby boy found on the beach who is adopted into a family and how that impacts their lives. Wovern thougout is the life of small town Irish fishermen and the stuggles of the working class people. This story could feel rather tedious, without much emotional attachment asked for from the reader.

However, If we dig a bit deeper we hear the story of the family as told by a neighbor with a flys-eye view of what goes on in the home and a small town. The courtship of Christine and Ambrose and their upbringing, the need to belong and the feelings of jealousy between two brothers. the loneliness of a midlife woman trapped into caring for her elderly abusive father. We get to watch but still always a bit distant. We see how their circumstances change their behavior it by bit but aren’t forced to examine it much deeper.

The final layer is the “ why” and the what if- we get clues in the telling but as the reader we have to work at understanding the characters and thinking about what was said, as well as what wasn’t said. We question the “why” in their behavior, pulling together their history and circumstances to understand them. Each of them is interesting in their own right. Lots to unpack in their story and I found it fascinating.
Recommend

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A beautifully crafted novel that captures a small Irish fishing village's rugged beauty and quiet desperation. When baby Brendan is found on the beach and taken in by the Bonnar family, his presence irrevocably alters the course of their lives. The novel masterfully explores the intricate bonds of family—both by blood and by place—against the backdrop of an ever-changing world.

The characters are richly drawn, particularly Ambrose, a fisherman torn between protecting his children and keeping his family afloat amid the harsh demands of commercial fishing. The tension between Brendan and Declan, who grow up as brothers but remain fundamentally at odds, adds emotional weight to the story. Brendan’s enigmatic origins and magnetic yet unsettling presence create a lingering sense of mystery that drives the narrative forward.

The author’s prose is lyrical and atmospheric, capturing the raw beauty of the sea and the quiet heartbreak of a village struggling against economic forces beyond its control. The town itself becomes a character—weathered, resilient, and deeply connected to the fates of the families within it.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Killybegs is a typical Irish fishing town in Donegal. A gentle, close knit, gossipy sort of place, where everyone knows everyone else’s business. When a baby, just days old, washes ashore in a barrel on the stony beach everyone is convinced it is a miracle. That is until it isn’t and the locals start to lose a bit of interest. But not Ambrose Bonnar, fisherman and general mr nice guy. He takes it upon himself to offer the baby a home for the night, that turns into two, that ends up with the baby being adopted and called Brendan by Ambrose and his wife Christine, much to the dismay of Christine’s sister Phyllis and elderly father Eunan. Plus, their natural son Declan isn’t too happy either.

This story is narrated by the ‘village’ and follows the Bonnars through their trials and tribulations over the years, from Ambrose and Christine’s first meeting, up to the boys being adults and on their way.

Beautifully told and atmospheric, Irish storytelling at its best.

At times the narrative was slow, but as with all good stories we get there in the end, though on first reading I thought the ending was a little flat. But then I read again and understood, less is often more. A book to take your time with.

A charming story, well told.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor.

“The Boy from the Sea” is Garrett Carr's debut novel, and it is filled with a lot of heart. In a small Irish village in the 1970s, a family's life was changed when Ambrose came upon an abandoned baby on the beach, who was later christened Brendan upon his adoption.

Set in the close-knit fishing community, the mysterious circumstances of the boy get the whole town literally talking as they narrate Brendan’s life throughout two decades in a Greek-like chorus throughout the novel. The bird's-eye view from the villagers’ narration gives us glimpses into the family’s life, which rises up and down with the sea that could make or break a family’s fortune.

This novel is a family drama at heart, and it’s one that I was charmed by because of Carr’s ability to make us feel for the family members in this tale. The daily struggles of Ambrose as the head of the family and how his wife and son dealt with the arrival of another mouth to feed formed the crux of the dynamics in this novel, and ‘the boy from the sea’ himself is an enigmatic and solitary figure, set apart from the family and villagers alike by the circumstances. I also loved how the sea played such a major role in the book in how it foreshadows Ambrose and his family's mood and fortune.

Witty and poignant, I enjoyed taking my time with this debut from an author I’d be interested in reading more from. “The Boy from the Sea” is perfect for fans of character-driven novels; it will be published on 13 May 2025.

**Features:**
- Set in a small Irish fishing village in the 1970s - 1980s
- Character focused tale about family, community, and change
- A touch of magical realism

**Synopsis:**

The people of Donegal were never ones for mysticism and magical fancies until the baby seemingly floated in from the sea. Nobody in their small, close knit community knew where the boy came from and speculation spread like wildfire. Undeterred by all of the speculation, fisherman Ambrose Bonnar adopted the baby, naming him Brendan. But as the mysticism around Brendan continues to grow, it only fuels the anger of his adopted grandfather and aunt and the jealousy of his adopted brother, Declan. However, in a town facing hardships and an unknown future, Brendan might be the spark of hope they need.

**Thoughts:**

There was definitely something magical about this snapshot of life in this small Irish fishing village. Narrated by the ‘village’ itself, this story takes on a similar quality to Unlikely Animals where we ‘watch’ certain moments unfolding from the outside without the ability to see too deeply into any one character’s thoughts. On occasion, the narrator provides insight into how the community views or responds to these events, which makes the collective as much a character as any individual member. For me, one of the most fascinating points was seeing how this community of people who are removed from the superstitions and faerie lore Ireland is known for starts to see ‘magic’ (for lack of a better word) in the world again through the unusual introduction of Brendan. As a reader, we rarely get a close look at Brendan or what he might be thinking and so find yourself similarly drawn to his mystique.

This story spans two decades and moves at a slower pace and focuses on character relationships and the community. The beautiful, atmospheric writing makes it a pleasure to linger even if I found myself wishing that some elements would progress in more significant ways. Though the tension between Brendan, Declan, and the rest of the Bonnar family as they face hardship is compelling, there is no clear resolution the story is working towards. If you are a reader who needs a strong central plot to move you through a story, I would maybe avoid this one. Overall, I thought this was a beautiful, well realized story that will definitely stick with me for a long time.

I have always loved a story that takes place in Ireland. Both my grandmothers were originally from County Mayo and they had a wonderful brogue that I loved to listening to. The boy from the sea is full of Irish sayings and superstitions that I got to experience first hand. This lovely story centers around Brendan, who as a newborn baby who was found cradled in a half barrel by the shore. The town assumed he was washed ashore and he was considered to be a special child. The story begins in 1973. The Bonnars family adopted Brendan and they are the main characters in this story. The narrator is actually an unnamed citizen from this tight-knit community where gossip is high and everyone known everyone else’s business. This is a lovely story of a family dealing with the financial hardships of a small fishing business, sibling rivalry between Brendan and his brother Declan, and trying to do the best that they can for their family.

With such stunning writing and vivid seascape imagery, this one flowed well. I adore seaside towns where the ocean is a huge part of life. This packs an even bigger punch because of a baby boy found abandoned in the beach.

Ambrose adopts this boy, feeling an incredible pull to him. His arrival is a sensation in town and he settles in to his new family well enough. Ambrose never knew how much his life would change, how much the lives of his family members will change because of this one decision.

I found the dynamics between characters to be quite interesting. I liked to see the multiple narratives we see. This was a subtle, yet emotionally charged read.

this was good! exactly what i expected of this book, every character i liked, i was captivated by the plot pretty quickly, the prose was wonderful and kept me wanting to read more. i think this is a stunning book, and the authors ability to capture a variety of personalities and explain relationships so well is amazing