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.