The Boy from the Sea

Lovely story of two boys growing up in a fishing village in Ireland. Declan the real son of Christine and Ambrose and Brendan who was adopted by them after Ambrose found him in a barrel as a tiny baby wrapped in tinfoil in the sea.
The story shows the hardship this family faced in the fishing village and the boys never got on there was so much jealousy mainly from Declan he hates to see his dad Ambrose showing any affection or attention to Brendan.Ambrose doesn’t really understand the boys relationship as he treats them both the same as his sons.
After lots of upsets the boys do come good
I really enjoyed the simplicity of this story could feel myself becoming part of this family
Thanks to net galley and picador books for enabling me to read this novel.

Gently written book which serves to underscore the harshness of life depicted in a town completely centred around the tough realities of commercial fishing. The always fractious relationship between two brothers is consistently maintained as the boys develop and change as they get older and with the reader’s sympathies moving with them. Clever narration throughout the story highlights the rhythm of life and neatly moves the story on over the years.

The discovery of a child in a barrel lined with tinfoil in 1973, enthrals the small coastal town where the Bonnars live. Christine and Ambrose’s two-year-old is put out by the sudden appearance of this baby his parents seem so interested in, refusing to accept him as his brother when they adopt him. As the boys grow up, Brendan yearns for Declan’s acceptance, taking to wandering off and administering ‘blessings’ to the town’s less fortunate when it’s not forthcoming, while Declan seethes at tiniest example of favour from their father towards Brendan, insisting on joining Ambrose at sea despite having no wish to be a fisherman. Over the years, the family’s financial fortunes decline until a decision must be made.
Garrett Carr knows how to spin a captivating story, peppering his narrative with wryly humorous observations, while exploring themes of family ties, community and financial hardship against the background of an industrialising fishing industry. His characters are memorably drawn - Christine is the lynchpin of the Bonnar family while Ambrose is its vibrant heart, full of stories and plans, not quite understanding this scratchy relationship between the two boys both of whom he thinks of as his son. A thoroughly enjoyable, immersive novel which left me wanting more from Carr.

What a quietly wonderful piece of writing The Boy From The Sea is.
For a debut novel, it is so beautifully written and put together that it is hard to believe it is the work of a first-time author.
The four main characters, Ambrose, Christine, Declan, and Brendan are so deftly described and so believable.
Their story is not one of great drama, other than Brendan's beginnings, as, literally, the boy from the sea, but the unfolding of their family tale is deeply engrossing.
The community which surrounds and watches the family, always referred to as "we" is woven through the lives of the Bonnars and we learn, through casual, throw away lines, how life ebbs and flows within this town where fishing is the heart of all that goes on.
The writing is frequently lyrical, sometimes melancholic, and yet often slyly amusing.
It is one of the best books I have read in a long time and will live long in my memory.
It will be a pleasure to recommend it to others, and I can imagine it as a great Book Club read.
Garrett Carr is an author to watch out for in future, if this impressive debut is anything to go by.
Thank you to NetGalley and Picador for an earc of this title in return for an honest review.