I thought the publisher’s description of this book was interesting and was looking forward to reading it. Sadly, the style of writing wasn’t to my taste and, although I persevered for three or four chapters, I eventually admitted defeat and did not finish the book. I can see how the story would appeal to many readers and the characters are well drawn but I couldn’t relax into the style of writing.

This book has some great reviews but I really struggled with the style of writing. I prefer a straightforward narrative rather than this. I was too much effort to read and sadly I gave up.

I am sorry but I just couldn't get on with this.
I found the style frustrating and difficult to read so I stopped reading it after about 20 to 30 pages.

A story about the Irish in nineteenth century Western America, which reminds me slightly of Sebastian Barry’s Days without End. We are introduced to two characters:
• Tom Rourke, aged 29 in 1891. He writes songs for the bars and letters for the lonesome. He is assistant to the photographer Lonegan Crane, a lunatic, of Leytonstone, East London, originally.
• Polly Gillespie, aged 31, comes out to Butte as a correspondence bride for a fifty year old mine supervisor, but only lasts a few weeks of marriage before she links up with Tom.
Realising there is no future for them in Butte, they elope, leaving vaguely for San Francisco.
There is pursuit and there are shenanigans, described in picaresque fashion. The language may occasionally be contrived, and once or twice meta, but it is melodious and worked well for me, in keeping with the style of the novel.
I’ve read Barry’s <i>City of Bohane</i>, and although that is noir set in a future Irish city, and this is set in a historical American west, there are similarities in the overall effect, which I enjoy.

I enjoyed that <i>the night was a great silent stage. The story could turn in any direction yet.</i>

I received a Netgalley copy of this book, but this review is my honest opinion.

Well I certainly would not have liked to be around back in these days. Tom Rourke is an interesting character looking for love with a woman, Polly Gillespie, that he shouldn't have. A tale of chasing a dream meeting a few unsavoury characters along the way. Is there a happy ever after?

The phenomenon that is Kevin Barry enters new territory with his latest atmospheric, profane, poetic offering, locating it in Butte, Montana in 1891, with a hard winter approaching across the Rockies, we encounter the broken, degenerate, dope fiend, drinker, ballad maker, that laments his inability to do away with himself, the calamity that is Irishman Tom Roarke. Notable for 'his eyes dimly gleaming the lyric poetry of an early grave', scrabbling to survive, writing love letters for 'The halt and the lame, the mute, and hare lipped, the wall-eyed men who heard voices in the night - they could all be brought up nicely enough against the white field of the page.' It is during his work with the lunatic photographer, Logan Crane, that he encounters the mail order bride of the devout mine captain, Long Anthony Harrington.

It is as if lightening strikes, Polly Gillespie is everything, an ancient spell weaves it magic as the lovers run, on a wild west adventure, but not before the Zagreb Boarding House conflagration, stolen money, and the taking of a horse. Danger is inescapable, through the out of control madness, Polly loves him, all that Tom is, all the more, so much that she could die, bubbling over, speaking as if in tongues, yet with no connection to any known god. These were words that burst from the inside, she didn't think about it, coming from a place deep inside, from a time and place before our beginnings. Hunting them down are the hard, cold, ruthless Cornish posse, led by the giant Jago Marrek. The inevitable testing drama unfolds with love's hard insistencies known to the deathlorn.

The gifted Barry's use of language is exquisite in its exploration of character, the surreal, forbidden, and ill fated driven romance, a star crossed soul love that refuses to be denied, other worldly, yet worldly, existing on more than one plane. There is a light and charm in the beauty and brutality of this bittersweet love, and in the creation and development of the marvellous array of its wide ranging cast of distinct characters that inhabit it. I would love to know what inspired Barry to write this unforgettable novel. Hugely recommneded to all readers. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

A new Kevin Barry book is always a treat and The Heart in Winter looks at first like a departure as it is set in USA in the late 19th century (mainly), albeit a USA populated by fortune seekers and bounty hunters, often of Irish origin. Like all of Barry's work, the book manages to be beautifully written ("The forest was a machine that made ice") and very funny, while also economically and convincingly depicting the problematic love affair between its two central protagonists - Polly and Tom. It also rattles along. At one point, Polly finds a newspaper cutting offering "The Twelve Rules for Writing Western Adventures" to which Tom responds "There's fucken twelve of em?". There's lots of subtle touches like that and Barry does seem to have a feel for the chaos and desperation of American life at the time (as well as for playing with the Western as genre). There's lots to enjoy here - it might not be Barry's best book but it takes its place in an impressive body of writing.

Polly Gillespie meets Tom Rourke when she visits a photography studio with her new husband. Tom works there and falls for her. They end up running away together, being chased by bounty hunters hired by Polly’s husband.
It’s a Western love story set in Nineteenth century America and the descriptions powerfully evoke the hardships the pair of runways encounter including trying to survive through a bitter winter. There’s danger and violence but throughout it all there’s passion and tenderness between the couple and beautiful lyricism in Kevin Barry’s writing which lifts it beyond a straightforward tale of two people who risk everything for love. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

TITLE: THE HEART IN WINTER
AUTHOR: KEVIN BARRY
PUBLISHER: CANONGATE
ISBN: 9781805302117
PUBLICATION DATE: 6.6.23

This is not a critique, analysis or essay but quick, overview intended to give you some idea whether or not you might enjoy an author’s work.

PUBLISHER’S DESCRIPTION:

October, 1891. Butte, Montana. A hard winter approaches across the Rocky Mountains. The city is rich on copper mines and rampant with vice and debauchery among a hard-living crowd of immigrant Irish workers.

Here we find Tom Rourke, a young poet and balladmaker, but also a doper, a drinker and a fearsome degenerate. Just as he feels his life is heading nowhere fast, Polly Gillespie arrives in town as the new bride of the devout mine captain Long Anthony Harrington.

A thunderbolt love affair takes spark between Tom and Polly and they strike out west on a stolen horse, moving through the badlands of Montana and Idaho. Briefly an idyll of wild romance perfects itself. But a posse of deranged Cornish gunsmen are soon in hot pursuit of the lovers, and closing in fast

NO SPOILERS

Night Boat to Tangiers was my first Kevin Barry and I loved it so I had high expectations of The Heart in Winter. I was not disappointed.

Firstly, it’s one heck of a story and secondly, Barry is one heck of a storyteller.

The publisher’s description tells you the general plot but it doesn’t tell you how beautiful the prose is, how perfect the dialogue, how exquisite the narration, flawlessly written in the vernacular. The whole thing flows effortlessly, breaks your heart, gives you joy, hope all through Barry’s wonderful skill.

“He filled his own glass a rumour shy of the rim” Man, I love it!

There are moments of tenderness, brutality, wit (oh, such wit!) and hilarity. I don’t enjoy romance, comedy or thriller genres yet The Heart in Winter has elements of them all and I savoured every word.

Oh and thirdly, read it. Get yourself a copy, pour yourself a modest one, settle down and enjoy.



Thank you to NetGalley and Canongate for the Advanced Review Copy of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

4.5 stars.
If this were longer and were not witty, it would have been a less enjoyable journey for me.
If I could have connected more to the characters, it would have been an absolute 5-star journey.

Barry is about to become one of all-time favourite writers. His prose is funny, deep, poetic, cinematic and reads like a stream of consciousness at times.

It took me about 5-10 pages to get the hang of Barry’s style.

This is an Irish-Western romance about two outlaws. Romance is not my cup of tea unless there are other layers to the story and the writing style is fresh. I was a bit familiar with Barry’s work and was hearing a lot about this book, and wanted to challenge myself. It exceeded my expectations in many ways, and at times I likened the mood to Bonnie and Clyde.

I am planning to reread this to relive the humorous parts, and think about the poetic and darker parts.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6494593758

Many people have sung the praise of the author's writing but in all honesty I found it slightly difficult to get into. Once I got used to the rhythm of it, and the dialects, this was an enjoyable book - short and sweet but poignant, and the character of Molly in particular jumped off the page (kudos to the author for writing a woman well). But it really required concentration for me to read it - and because it never felt effortless in the way novels do when I'm really immersed in them, I can't give it more than three stars. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Where has Kevin Barry been all my life? Without any disrespect, I'd never heard of him.
I'm a little bit pleased about this, because now there's a back catalogue to indulge in.
This is an old story.
Waster runs off with someone's wife...
They're consumed with each other.
Bring in the cavalry.

Incredibly well written, and some humour too.
Pleased to have discovered this book

So we'll written, we are in the head of a bright, addicted chancer who falls in love with a dangerous woman. Funny, frustrating, descriptive, rollicking, Tom and Polly are a couple to be remembered.

The melting pot of the New World forming. 1891 Montana.
Work, Drink, Drugs, Violence, Sex - repeat - as the immigrant cliques from every corner of the world rub along. Fantastic use of bad language throughout!
Although a short read, it has heavy in weight & depth. Such rich language.
Tom and runaway bride Polly, are young and on the run from the henchmen set upon them by her rich husband. This exciting pursuit deep into an America rich with different languages and cultures, where nature has yet to be exploited.
A very fine work of literature, that almost sings to the reader. Highly recommended.
Thank you to NetGalley and Canongate for this advance copy in exchange for a honest review.
I enjoyed this beautiful book and think it could be a classic.

I have read every thing that Kevin Barry has ever written so perhaps I am biased but this book is brilliant. Such life in his writing. Vitality. Feeling and emotion from living and experiences and communication. A doomed romance in his own words and like Finistere his recent story for the New Yorker it is alive to the nuances of relationships and hope and the darknesses that life offers as well as the light. ‘and wasn’t it a remarkable turn of events that showed love and death they coexist in our violent and sentimental world. They might even depend one on the other.’ Superb.

The first thing that strikes you is how beautiful the prose is - my God how it sings! Then you're drawn into this Cormac McCarthy style story - the American West, somewhat Gothic in tone, and a love story/runaway adventure between Tom Rourke and Polly Gillespie. There are some wonderful moments here, lines which you want to read twice, such poetry of language. This is highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I have previously enjoyed ‘Night Boat to Tangier’,so was delighted to get the opportunity to read an early edition of ‘The Heart in Winter’ by Kevin Barry.This time the setting is the old wild west of Montana in 1891.
Initially this is wonderful poetic prose at its best,yet the story seems quite meandering and slightly unclear.There is on first impression a depiction of a wasted life spent stumbling around, with the doomed depression of the drunken doped up exiled Irish despondent.Yet the entire population of the narrative feels based in harsh reality and beyond the compromise of pure cliches.The backdrop is painted so vividly, the landscape for what follows is truly panoramic,and sets the scene magnificently,regards time and place.
Thus when Tom Rourke and Polly Gillespie first meet up,the story really kicks into gear.The tension of temptation,passion,and trouble afoot is tangible from the start.
There follows an absorbing and at times frantic tale of lovers fleeing through a perilous environment ,pursued by those determined to destroy their dreams of a shared future in a new promised land.