Quite a different genre / book for me, but I did enjoy it. Set in Ireland, it is based around a baby boy found on a beach and the family that adopted him. They live in a tight fishing community and the story is set in the 1970's and 1980's. I would just say that for me, I didn't feel a lot happened but that is just my opinion.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review, which is what I have given.

2.5 stars

This is Garrett's adult debut and I haven't read any of his children's books or non-fiction books.

It is a difficult book to read, in my opinion. It's very much a literary piece, very serious, very meaningful. You have to work a lot harder, see below the surface to get any enjoyment out of it.

And even though I had read the synopsis, I really wasn't sure exactly what was going on. It was all a bit bitty - we had a child, and then we were looking at someone's childhood, and then about superstition and I just got lost.

It was okay. I had to stop reading it and go back to it. It was hard work and whilst that's fine for other people, I don't like my reading to be hard work, life is hard work enough, I want reading to be fun. I don't mind a hard-hitting literary piece but I don't want to struggle to get entertainment out of it. I can see why people liked it and felt something from it, I appreciate it's an interesting story, but I just didn't get on with it. Maybe it's just not the way of writing that I'm suited to.

Wow. Thank you so much to Picador for the access to an ARC of The Boy From The Sea. This book was simply stunning. I found myself waking up at 5am because I was desperate to read more before my day started.

This is an outstanding piece of literature. The prose is powerful in its simplicity, reflecting the setting and people of the story. The characters were all fully realised and three dimensional with peaks, troughs, triumphs and foibles.

What really sang was the Greek chorus like narrator. It leant so much heart and atmosphere to the story and anchored you in the town and the Bonnars’ place in it. The illustration of time passing was one of my favourite aspects of the book.

I can’t wait until this is published so I can buy it for everyone. It’s a brilliant book with wide appeal, great pacing and incredibly heart.

Wonderfully written and great detail on fishing, and the lives of families in a fishing town. Great characters, really enjoyed this book. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy

A lovely novel, set in a small fishing community in Donegal and full of interesting characters. I loved Ambrose, not forgetting Christine, he is strong and has a depth of character. Set over two decades, starting in the 1970's, this book is a gentle paced read about community and is filled with humour and mystery. A really nice read. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

What a wonderful read. At first glance this appears to be a simple tale about a family living during the 80’s and 90’s in a fishing village in Donegal. Beneath the surface though is the story of a village told by an anonymous bystander, a method that makes the story all the more poignant. I was laughing, crying and praying that Declan and Brendan would become friends. I learnt a lot about boats, fishing and the politics surrounding them.

If this wonderful book isn't one of the biggest successes of 2025 I'll be surprised.
Garrett Carr weaves a beguiling story around a weary fishing town in Donegal where a baby boy has been washed up in a barrel. Adopted by Ambrose and Christine Bonnar, the "Boy from the Sea" captivates the town but not his Bonnar brother Declan.
The writing is sublime, creating memorable and relatable characters.The 3rd party narration by the townsfolk helps to define the characteristics and stoicism of the town.
The relationships are finely drawn. Christine's sister Phyll lives with their taciturn father down the lane and is accepting of her fate. Ambrose is successful at fishing for a short while, going into business with his friend Tommy, but turns his back on factory style fishing.
Carr tackles brilliantly the drama of a boat in danger during a storm.
Irish life is recounted with wry humour, particularly the way families with the same surname are described. Those with the same name are differentiated by where they live, or their occupation. "This evening she had to show a new girl about: Debbie Pringle, of the Largynagreana Pringles. This Pringle was slow-moving and unresponsive but Christine reserved judgement, your teens weren't easy."
This was a book that just kept on giving.,

This book was so much more than I expected. Heartfelt, troubling, complex and a whole lot more.

Garrett Carr wasn't an author I was familiar with but I certainly am now!

In 1973 in the fishing village of Killybegs, Co. Donegal right on the edge of the Atlantic a baby is washed up in a barrel and rescued by Ambrose Bonnar a fisherman. Ambrose and his wife rear the child they call Brendan but this is not approved of by Christine’s family who live nearby nor by their son Declan.
We follow the families over two decades and not only are we part of the families but also the changes taking place in the fishing community with the advent of the European Community and its regulations. Interestingly the story is told from the point of view of view of the fishing community, “we”, and not that of the lead characters.
This is the authors first novel and I am already looking forward to his next.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

Charming story, set in Donegal. I won’t forget the Bonnar family! Well written, loveable characters and a story that gets under your skin in the best way possible!

An incredibly moving and well-crafted story. The characters stayed with me long after I finished reading. This is a book I’ll be recommending to everyone.

A really beautiful piece of Irish literature. A really moving and lyrical story, gorgeous writing. It lost me slightly in the second half but overall I did really like this.

The year is 1973. The Republic of Ireland is admitted into the European Economic Community and on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the Watergate Scandal breaks. But in a small coastal town in Donegal, a baby boy is found abandoned on the beach. Fisherman Ambrose and his wife Christine, who forge a proud but precarious living from the sea, take the baby in, give him the name Brendan, and raise him alongside their older son Declan. Spanning two decades, this novel is not only about an ordinary family that opens itself to the extraordinary arrival of a child, but also about an ordinary community proud of its traditional heritage that gradually embraces an accelerated pace of life that includes international trade and communication with regions beyond the next fishery port. With the increasingly rapid turnover of information, might the mystery of Brendan’s early life finally be solved? And how will Declan, so often at conflict with his younger brother during their childhoods, react?
This is an extraordinary literary debut about an Irish region and time period that have not been depicted much in contemporary fiction – hopefully this beautiful, enigmatic and sensitive novel will change the status quo! My thanks go to NetGalley and to the publishers for the free ARC that allowed me to produce this honest and unbiased book review.

I enjoyed this gentle narration of the extremely tough life in a commercial fishing town in Donegal and the ripples caused by one significant event in the town's past. The narrative explores relationships within the community and its families- and it can be observed how these have rhythms as up and down as the sea that is central to the story. The characters, particularly the central Bonnar family, are wonderfully drawn and pull you deep into their concerns.

I will happily recommend this to readers. My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC -views are my own

This is a beautifully written, gently told and emotive story that will stay with me for some time. It covers two decades starting in 1973 and is set in a small fishing community in Donegal on Irelands West coast.

The story starts with a baby being found in a barrel on Donegal Bay and everyone agrees that he is a gift from the sea. They name the baby Brendan and Ambrose Bonnar, a fisherman, takes him into his family -very much to the dislike of his birth son Declan who emotionally struggles and fights against this new addition to his hitherto happy family. Brendan’s arrival changes the family dynamics but also effects the people in the village generally.

The impact the arrival of the baby has on Ambrose’s family and on the fishing community as a whole is observed from a very unusual narrative position. It is a communal voice, a we-narrator representing the people in the village – people with a great sense of place and deeply rooted in their traditions.

Whilst the book delves deeply into the intricacies of the life of the Bonnar family, it has a particular focus on its male members. It is one of those rare books that explores how male protagonists deal with their feelings and expression of emotions, which are often raw and remain hidden behind their actions. It is done subtly with great empathy. For that I liked it a lot.

I am grateful to NetGalley and Picador for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a beautifully written tale of a baby is found who is found by the sea in Donegal, and is taken in by a young fisherman and his wife. They adopt him and name him Brendon, bringing him up alongside their other son Declan. We follow their lives in this small fishing village

This is the story of a baby found abandoned on an Irish beech he is taken in by members of the community initially on rotation when they realise this isn’t really a practical way to bring up a child one family steps forward and we learn about the child’s upbringing throughout the novel


The story starts off really fast paced and amusing and kept my attention throughout I read it in one sitting
I love the collective we that is used quite often to mean members of the community it is unusual to read novels written as the collective we but I really loved it
I’m found that I was highlighting multiple sentences as they’re so perfectly written and amusing.
There is a whole cost of eccentric characters who are described perfectly their real pre-dimensional people if we don’t feel we know them already we do by the end of the novel
There Is an intense Irishness about the story which brings to mind some of the novels of John Boyne
I would strongly recommend this novel for anyone who loves a great relationship based literary novel written with wit intelligence and love for Community and family
I read early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK in return for a review. The book is published in the UK in February 2025. Pan McMillan-Picadore.
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads and my book review bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK.

Thank you for my advance review copy of this book. Really enjoyed reading about the dynamics of the fishing village, fishing life and the rivalry between the foundling and the child of the couple who took him in.

I was drawn into this book and loved the first part. But I found it lost its way and I began to lose interest. It's a shame that the town itself and its people didn't quite come through, otherwise it would have made a much better book. Nice writing though.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I found it to be an unusual storyline. However I enjoyed reading it, particularly the descriptions of the Irish countryside and the people. Brendon was adopted by Ambrose and Christine as a baby with an unknown background. His arrival changed the dynamics of both the family and the community. The local community were mostly fishermen who were affected by the the joining of the EU. This impacted the way of life for the community and changed the family again.
I can recommend this book to those who like to read something different with a moving storyline and how small rural communities are affected by the decisions made by those some distance away.