An interesting story of family dynamics set in a rural fishing community .
A child is found on the beach and Ambrose Bonnar is drawn to the child, convincing his wife to adopt the boy. The Boy from the Sea follows Brendan and the Bonnar family through the 70's and 80's. I enjoyed the chapters written frim the perspective of the community, giving a good insight into how communities like this work.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read The Boy from the Sea.

I loved this novel. The writing was superb and totally captured the people, town and countryside around Donegal.on the West coast of Ireland. A baby is found on the beach and taken in by a family within the town. This is a story of family and community, of love and loss, jealousy and belonging told over a period of 18 years. This novel drew me in and made me fall in love with the characters despite all their flaws. I never thought I would find the development to the fishing industry on the West Coast of Island so enthralling but I did. A fabulous debut and I can’t wait to read more from this author .One of my books of the year. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.

It’s hard to believe ‘The boy from the sea’ is a debut! Not at all what I expected from the blurb - but far reached any expectations. It’s a truly beautifully crafted novel, bittersweet and without any pretension, spanning two decades of the Bonnan’s family saga. The writing is mellifluous, lyrical and truly mesmerising - and definitely going to a huge hit.

I particularly enjoyed the acute attention to family nuances and dynamics. I also learnt a great deal about the precarious lives of Irish trawler men, and admired the strength of community which came from their connections and lives governed by the sea. Sea lore pervades throughout, as indeed the novel is centred around the mystical arrival of ‘the boy from the sea’, a tiny baby (Brendan) found abandoned in a barrel on the sea shore, but the harsh realities of life prevails over myth.

Huge thanks to Netgalley for an ARC. I’ll be recommending this novel far and wide!

This hauntingly beautiful story of two 'brothers', living on the coast in 1970s Ireland, is the debut novel of Garrett Carr. He has a wonderfully evocative tone - you can smell the sea on these pages - and a pitch perfect sense of place. The relationship between Declan and Brendan is the heart of this novel which begins when Brendan is found in a barrell on the coast and adopted by Declan's parents and made part of the family. It is in many ways a gentle novel, full of sorrow and yet also hopeful, and one that worms it's way into your heart so effortlessly. I loved this, and am excited to read what Carr does next.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Rhythmic fable of community and rivalry
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Told in a storyteller’s rhythmic omniscient point of view, an unnamed baby arrives in a close-knit Irish fishing community in a seaborne barrel, his strange entrance immediately captivating the villagers. As the entire village rallies around the baby, Ambrose Bonnar, local fisherman and father himself, takes in the boy and names him Brendan. Ambrose’s son Declan doesn’t understand why another child has suddenly appeared in the family home. Over the next twenty years, through the seventies and eighties, as Declan’s rivalry hardens against the thoughtful Brendan, the village ebbs and flows in the wake of greater events, the currents of today’s news and modern history.

A book about community—the ties that bind—and rivalry—within families and with friends and competitors—this book is steeped in its fishing community on the Atlantic coast of the Republic. With a magical realist tint to the strongly Irish feel to the prose—the rhythm, the idioms, the details—this book evokes a village and its messy relationships, where tempers may flare, or passions run wild, but knowing full well that they still have to see each other the next day. Using a clever writerly trick of never coming too close to hearing Brendan’s internal voice, the book manages to place him at its centre without piercing his initial mystery.

A haunting book: four stars.

A beautifully crafted atmospheric novel about a baby washing up in a Donegal fishing village and the family who adopt him. The length and breadth of human emotion is contained in this novel, the writing is lyrical and full of feeling. The story is narrated by an unnamed member of the tight knit community, an onlooker to the Bonnar Family’s life over two decades. An impressive fiction debut and a story I’ll remember. Must-read.

Thanks, @netgalley, for the ARC.

This is a beautiful story set in rural Ireland that follows the many hardships of the Bonnar family through the eyes of a very tight-knit community.
It is full of charm,wit, and humour and is very well written, and there is great depth to the characters. It really portrays the hardships faced by fishermen and the fishing industry during the 1970s and 80s, but with a real family feel to it a well.
Overall, it was a very good book and worth a read.

Beautifully written book, such a lyrical way of writing. It flowed like a great conversation, easy to read, hard to put down

The trials and tribulations of the fishing community wrapped around the relationships within a family.
Quite a gentle tale of a boy adopted by a fisherman and resented by the natural son.

A foundling is found floating in a barrel in the sea in rural.Ireland. Locals call him the Boy From the Sea and his story becomes almost mythical.

The baby is taken in by a fishing family who already have a toddler son. Renaming him Brendan, the Bonnar family treat him as their own and bring him up alongside their biological son Declan. Unfortunately Delcan harbours resentment towards his adopted brother and over the years this causes a lot of friction.

The book follows the family as the boys grow up and is an interesting insight into the culture of rural Irish fishing communities in the 1980s and the challenges faced in a changing society.

Wirtten from the perspective of the locals, it is almost a fly on the account. An emotional, thought-provoking and down to earth story

"Christine reckoned she had a solid twenty-five years of matriarch left in her and she'd always use it to direct Declan towards sources of self-esteem. If no good source was available she'd at least make sure he was occupied. As a fisherman, Declan would probably stay in Donegal and continue to live at home until he married and that would be fine, she'd keep an eye on him until then and maybe beyond if his wife was the meek sort."

To give the basics, a baby found abandoned on a beach is shared among the town at first but ends up coming home with Ambrose and Christine. They already have a son, Declan, who bitterly resents the newcomer, named Brendan by Ambrose, the more so as life goes on and Brendan exhibits strange behaviours, becoming feted as almost saint-like for a while and getting a bit too big for his boots. Will the brothers always be in conflict? Meanwhile Christine's sister Phyllis also has cause for bitterness as she's left at home (just up the road) caring for their elderly and difficult father. This is all set against the background of the fishing industry, with Ambrose and his best friend Tommy in business together with a small fishing boat at the start of the book in 1973 and their fortunes dividing as the industry changes.

Although this is being touted as Carr's first novel, he's actually written three YA books and a work of non-fiction, and he teaches creative writing, so he's by no means a newbie, and that shows. While it's deceptively simple in its language, the structure and voice is very technically interesting, hopping forwards in time, always understandable, and shifting between the third person internal narratives of the main characters and the first person plural (we) of the chorus of townspeople who offer narrative, comment and explanations of the culture and traditions. But it's also such a quietly perceptive and emotionally literate read: look at this description of toxic male inarticularcy:

"Ambrose had all the language required to define precisely the meaning of a cloud, the character of a sea, an attitude of rain, but to describe his own emotional weather he was limited to 'Been better,' 'Been worse,' and 'You know yourself.' When Christine first met Ambrose he seemed to have a great way with words but now she knew it was nothing but banter. He'd tell you about himself in a way that seemed spontaneous and open but he only began a story when he knew how it ended."

There are also beautiful, tender scenes of care and caring and a very vivid adventure at sea that had me frantically reading, sure I knew what was going to happen (I didn't).

I loved that Carr thanks the translators in his Acknowledgements, "getting The Boy from the Sea into other languages", as well as the usual publishers, peers and family.

Dare I say it, if you loved Claire Keegan's "Small Things Like These" for its quiet, working-class characters and small town life with an undercurrent of deep morality and humanity, but wanted more than a novella, you will love this.

Publishing review on my blog on 3 March 2025 to coincide with Reading Ireland Month: https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2025/03/03/book-review-garrett-carr-the-boy-from-the-sea/

The Boy from the Sea by Garrett Carr was a lovely book set in 1973. In a close-knit community on Ireland’s west coast, when a baby was found abandoned on the beach. He was named Brendan by Ambrose Bonnar, the fisherman who found him and and then adopts him with his wife Christine, the baby captivates the whole town from day one.

Christine, falls in love with Brendan when she first see's him. But, for Declan, their son, his new brother’s arrival is the start of a life-long rivalry. Even though Ambrose brings Brendan into his family home, it is a big decision that will fracture his family and force this man who is now more comfortable at sea than on land.

This book was told over two decades, Garrett Carr's the author tells a story of a restless boy trying to find his place in the world and a family fighting to hold itself together. It is a story of ordinary lives made extraordinary, a drama about a community who can’t help but look to the boy from the sea for answers as they face the storm have a rapidly changing world.

This book was a wonderful read from start to finish. A joy to read. I loved it. I loved the book cover, a great eye catcher.

I highly recommend The Boy from the Sea.

SYNOPSIS
In a tight knit but tired fishing community in Donegal a baby boy washes up in a barrel. Ambrose and Christine Bonnar name him Brendan, and raise him alongside their aggrieved biological son, Declan; but Brendan is restless on land constantly trying to find his place in the world, and within his adopted family, whilst the rest of the community look towards this captivating boy for answers. A multi-layered mesmeric story of twisted fates, identity, love and rivalry, of ordinary lives made extraordinary, set in Ireland during the 70s and 80s.
MY THOUGHTS
This is a book that is beautifully written, full of heart, and the warm humour of Donegal. The story waxes and wanes with the tides of the The Bonnar family, which is not smooth sailing as Carr makes many keen observations about hardship and grief that had me highlighting entire passages. Carr’s tender writing made it feel like I was reading about real people with an attention to authenticity that brought a real place to life. I know that I will think often of the Bonnar family long after finishing this book.
I rated this 4.25 stars, and highly recommend this to lovers of literary sagas in particular Irish historical fiction. I would like to thank the publishers Picador Panmacmillan and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

An intimate and moving portrait of an isolated community in Donegal Bay. Our unnamed narrator, a member of this community, recounts changing times and challenges from an insider's point of view.

A baby washes up in a barrel one day and is adopted by Ambrose and his wife Christine. The couple already has a young son, Declan, and he resents the interloper from the beginning.

As the boys grow this resentment deepens as each seek a way to be seen. They crave their father's time and approval, but in trying economic times, attention is all about survival. Ambrose is a fisherman and with quotas and increasing competition for large trawlers, making ends meet becomes increasingly difficult.

The writer captures the sense of community, with its kinship but also its judgement so beautifully. Gossip and rumour spread quickly, but there is support and loyalty as well, something that sadly seems to be in decline as we live increasingly isolated lives. An elegy to the past that removes rose-tinted lenses to reveal the hardships and complexity of people everywhere.

Beautifully written and well told. The story of an abandoned baby and his subsequent life and finding his place in the world

' The Boy From The Sea' is Garrett Carr's wonderful adult debut novel.

It is set in Killybegs, Co Donegal, a fishing village in the northwest of Ireland. In 1973 a baby was found in a barrel on a beach in Donegal. The orphan boy was taken in by the fisherman Ambrose Bonnar and his family. Ambrose and his wife Christine already have a son, Declan, who is a couple of years older. A lifelong rivalry develops between the two brothers.

The story follows the Bonnar family over the next couple of decades when the boys are growing up. It is a tale about the hardship of the life as a fisherman, tough decisions and family bonds.

The novel is written from an unusual perspective. The we-narrator is the people of Killybegs which gives the reader the impression of being immersed in the story and evokes a sense of community.

This is a beautifully and tenderly written book about family, hardship and belonging.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the opportunity to review the ARC.

I loved the first half of this family saga but as the boys grew up my interest grew less. There was an awful lot about fishing which whilst I was at first interested in soon was simply too much to keep me bothered.
I’m not sure why it went wrong for me but lack of character development and over long over complicated passages didn’t help.

My reading has featured quite a lot from Ireland lately and I am finding it a refreshing change. The Boy from the Sea has proven to be the cherry on top in its cosy, relaxed, quintessentially Irish way. In this charmer we follow Ambrose and Christine Bonnar as they adopt a baby that has been found on the beach at Donegal, circa 1973. A good Christian thing to do, to be sure, but not all agree. Declan, their young son, is not keen to share his parents, home or even bedroom with this new interloper and is free and easy with his disgruntled opposition.

Brendan, the boy from the sea, causes no end of fascination for the locals and this wonderful tale is narrated by an omnipotent, unnamed villager who is the voice box for the community wisdom. I'm not Irish but I have been and love the country and its people. There's a sensible pragmatism that belies Irish logic, understated yet forceful at the same time. This novel is oozing with it, making it the delight I so enjoyed.

The characters are sublime. The interactions, especially when things get a bit fractious, are realistic and the narrative analysis of events is simply spot on. I was charmed from page one and enjoyed my time with the Bonnar family, most particularly Phyllis, Christine's sister. She didn't fly the nest of the childhood home, like Christine did, and instead stayed home to care from their elderly father. Her personality and way of thinking is skewed by her choices and her possible jealousy of Christine and her perceived freedoms. Like Declan, she also believes there's no room for Brendan in the family equation but will that belief ever shift?

This is simply a joyous family drama. Full of good and bad times, difficulties, love – spoken and unspoken. A gem of a novel that touched my heart. Rich in the beauty of Ireland, this novel will transport the reader to a lovely, hard working fishing village in a bygone time as this family adapts to the curveball life throws their way. Simply marvellous.

There is so much to admire in this novel, as is so often the case with Irish literature. There is a wonderful cast of characters and we watch them as their relationships develop over time. The relationship between Christine and Phyllis is especially interesting, their estrangement, the tension in their interactions, but both reaching an understanding of the other. There is tension too between Declan and Brendan borne out of jealousy and the unexplained appearance of the younger boy in the family, whose strangeness is enigmatic and cannot be explained since his background is completely unknown,

I love the setting of a small fishing village, brought to life in so many small details, acutely observed. In this place everybody is watching everybody else, and there is the effective use of the narrator being the people of the village, rather than a single voice. It conveys the expectations of how people should behave, but is never overly judgmental.

At several times in the narrative there are potentially dangerous moments, in particular the boat far out to sea without power in a storm, but the expectation of disaster is never fulfilled, so when disaster does strike suddenly and horrifically it is more shocking, and its repercussions make for difficult reading.

I loved the story and the writing style, always clear and concise. I will be looking out for more books by this author.

In 1973, a baby boy is found abandoned on the beach of the little Donegal fishing town of Killybegs. At first, the town is in wonder at this gift from the sea and pass him around from family to family to enjoy, but soon the novelty wears off and he is eventually adopted by a fisherman called Ambrose Bonnar who names him Brendan. He and his wife Christine already have a two year old son, Declan who, as he grows older, feels sidelined and decides he will never accept Brendan as his ‘brother’ or part of the family. Christine’s sister Phyllis who has remained unmarried to care for their cantankerous elderly father also does not agree with the arrangement and this creates a chasm in the sisters’ relationship.

This engrossing and charming tale is told in the first person plural, from the collective point of view of the community who watch and gossip about what is going on in their small town. Told with gentle Irish humour and a fondness for his characters, Garrett Carr’s debut adult fiction novel is beautifully written and full of characters who emerge fully formed from the page. The small coastal town is so vividly depicted that it’s not hard to imagine the calls of the seagulls and salty smell of the sea as the waves pound the coast.

Brendan grows into a strange little boy. Shunned by his brother, who he initially follows and tries to please, he has few friends and eventually takes to wandering the areas surrounding the village. He visits lonely people and as he gets older, bestowing blessings on them which they believe are healing, especially given by the boy from the sea. Meanwhile, Ambrose and the other small fishermen are finding it harder and harder to make a living with EU fishing quotas and the arrival of larger and larger boats from Europe to fish in the Atlantic.

This gentle Irish tale of family and community will pull you in to the highs and lows of relationships and events in a small town that is struggling to adapt to a changing world. Just lovely!