Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for sharing an early copy with me!

I was instantly eager to read this book because it’s set in Ireland, my favorite book location. Brenden is the boy from the sea, adapted Ambrose and Christine and their son Declan. The book is so much more than Brenden. It’s about the family, the extended family, the town and the culture.

Carr’s dreamy writing and collective “we” perspective made for a terrific read. I loved the setting of the book and of course always enjoy books about complicated family relationships.

My only notes on the book would be sometimes it felt a bit slow and I also wasn’t sure if I felt the brothers’ relationship had a strong enough turning point to make me feel satisfied at the end.

Residents of an Irish Village receives a gift in the shape of a boy who touches every life he encounters.
It's a story well crafted of mystery and hope.
Magical Realism brings a tight knit Community even tighter.

Many thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for this ARC of 'The Boy from the Sea' by Garrett Carr.

This is a wonderful novel set in coastal Donegal, Ireland from the mid-1960s through the mid/late-1980s. Having lived in a similar small town (though not coastal) during the same period I can attest to the accuracy of the descriptions of people, place, and mood.

A baby washes up from the sea in a halved, blue plastic, industrial barrel and changes the trajectory of the family that adopts him. You get the feeling very early on that this could drift into magical realism or the supernatural but it doesn't - it remains firmly rooted in the realm of the real. We follow the intense and convoluted relationships within a small Irish town, pre mass media and mass communication, where everyone knows everyone's seed, breed, and generation and anyone from more than five miles away is a blow-in.

The main characters are the Bonnars, their in-laws the Lyons, a couple of close work colleagues of lifelong trawler fisherman Ambrose, and then there's the character of the village which is wrapped up - in this novel - in a single voice, a single consciousness which relates the villagers' reaction to events and describes the passing of the years through weather events, small accidents, and local deaths. This village is very much affected by international affairs, we know they're tangentially concerned with the existential threat of nuclear war but the arrival of Ireland's membership of the EEC in 1973 is the pivotal event here, money pours in for vessels but the waters are no longer Ireland's alone so the stakes get higher and the downsides greater.

The core relationships in the novel concern those or Brendan, the boy from the sea. His relationship with each of his parents, his wider family, the town as a character, and the individuals within the town, but most especially with his brother Declan who, from the second he met him as a two-year-old, deeply resents Brendan's presence in the family and his place in his father's affections. We follow the evolution of this relationship right through to the end of the novel and it's highly believable.

This is a very funny book and I think it especially helps if you're Irish and/or have lived through those times. Carr consistently lobs in little comments that had me smiling and laughing. On the flip side it's very emotional and sad - I was on edge throughout waiting for the hammer or tragedy to fall. It fell but not in the way I'd have expected.

If you're looking for comparisons I would say it you could liken it to Clare Keegan - but without that quiet viciousness that Keegan injects - or maybe Donal Ryan whose novels are set around the time this book ends but who captures those small town Irish people and attitudes very well. Further back, the quietness and wryness brought to mind William Trevor's novels set in mid-century Ireland places and attitudes. Finally, though reaching nowhere near the excess of madness McCabe gets to, I see elements of Pat McCabe in the characters and situations that arise throughout this novel with one passage especially where Declan and his aunt Phyllis head off into the wilds of the Donegal/Derry border on a quest.

Congratulations to Garrett Carr and Knopf - I hope this is a bestseller.

“Parents knew you can never tell how a child will turn out, naturally yours or not. They had learned, fundamentally, every child comes in from the sea, washes up against the ankles of their parents, arms outstretched, ready to be shaped by them but with some disposition already in place, deep-set and never quite knowable.”


At first, I suspected The Boy from the Sea would be a sort of fable. A baby boy is found floating in a barrel near the shoreline of a small fishing village – Donegal, Ireland -- in 1973. The discovery sets the town abuzz with excitement and mystical theories about the nature of his appearance spread like wildfire.

But Garrett Carr quickly dispels the reader from going down that road. It appears that an itinerant woman was seen in a shanty part of town, and she likely birthed and left the baby where he would be easily discovered. Before too long, a local fisherman, Ambrose, and his wife, Christine – parents of a two-year-old boy named Declan – file for adoption and name him Brendan.

Declan is never enamoured of the interloper (his first word when the baby is brought home is, “Why?”) Declan is of the shore, and Brendan is of the sea, and Declan comes to resent how Brendan leverages his mysterious origin story to listen to and bless people of the town. He is determined to not acknowledge this strange child as a family member.

The book, which is narrated in the “we” tense, underscores the insularity of Donegal and leverages some of the themes that make contemporary Irish literature (to my mind) the best there is. Two recent books that leap to mind are The Coast and The Colony, which also leverage the themes of home and identity, love and relationships, regrets and reconciliations, and the ephemeral nature of fate and fortune.

The Boy from the Sea beautifully captures sibling relationships (not only Declan and Brendan, but also their mother Christine with her older sister who stays behind to care for their aging and recalcitrant father). The uncertain and changing life of the fishermen, who place themselves at risk as they deal with fishing quotas, new upgrades, and financial matters, is explored with knowledge and skill.

Any reader who loves charming Irish stories, relayed with a touch of humor, and drilling deep into the intricacies of a small town that means well and doesn’t always succeed, will love this book. My thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for enabling me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review.

The Boy from the Sea is a beautifully crafted story, narrated through the perspectives of the residents of an Irish village. It feels as though an observer from above is watching over Brendan and the people whose lives he touches, often zooming in on intimate scenes and dialogues. As a reader, you experience the emotions of all the main characters—almost except Brendan’s. This narrative choice gives Brendan, the boy found by the sea as a newborn, an otherworldly quality. His quietness only deepens the story’s mystique.

The novel flows like the gentle waves of the sea, spanning two decades without ever speeding up. It maintains a deliberately slow pace, requiring readers to surrender to its lyrical prose and unique narrative style. Although I found the pacing a bit too slow at times, I was captivated by Brendan’s newfound family: Ambrose, with his soft spot for the boy from the sea; Declan, who was jealous of the boy he didn’t want to call his brother; and Christine, who tried to hold everything together. The Irish setting added another layer of depth to the story.

An excellent read for any and all readers! Author comes at you with both barrels and knocks you out of your shoes! Great job fleshing out all the characters. I give this book FIVE stars! Definitely recommend!

this was a pretty good book! I liked the themes of family, abandonment, relationships, love, and growth. Overall this book was well written, and it kept me entertained while reading

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!