Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

I would actually give this book 2.5 stars. This may be unfair as I still can’t decide whether it’s the book’s fault or if it’s simply just not the right genre for me.

The book is definitely full of depth and depicts varying family and community dynamics in a very realistic and believable way. Though the characters were described well and their development tracked to a great degree, at no point did I feel I cared about any other than maybe Ambrose and Christine. It may be that this was the author’s intention given that they were the most relatable.

The descriptions of the setting of rural Ireland and the fishing industry were fantastic and you could easily picture every scene, however that’s about as far as it went for me. The lack of plot, twists or real ups and downs made this a very slow read.

At no point did I feel desperate to pick the book up as it really didn’t hook me. I think if I was the type of reader who enjoys a slow and monotonous read it could have been perfect, but I really need a book to hook me in and keep me intrigued.

Overall, however, the writing style and voice of the author were very successful and the concept of the author being one of the townsfolk worked well.

This was a beautifully written book, lyrical in its prose and with well developed characters. The adoption of a baby boy found in a barrel in the sea near a small fishing village in Donegal is an unusual subject for a novel, but it served as a great basis for a study of relationships, being an outsider and love. The idea that it takes a village to raise a child was well narrated by the Greek chorus of villagers and their often comic observations on community life.
I have to admit to bring less interested in the fishing parts of the book, but realise how essential it was to understanding the characters.
Thank you to netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of this book.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an early read of 'The Boy From the Sea'. What a lovely book filled with well rounded and well written characters. When a baby boy is found washed ashore he is adopted by Ambrose and Christine Bonnar and becomes the younger brother of Declan. We follow the ups and downs of the family, and extended family and neighbours, as they grow up in a 1970's Donegal fishing village. A gentle but haunting debut novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will look forward to more from Garrett Carr.

This opens with an introduction to the town on Donegal Bay on the west coast of Ireland. It's a fairly small close knit community where everyone knows (or thinks they do) about everyone else! It has a very Irish charm and feel to it. It's 1973 and a baby is found abandoned on the beach there. It even seems as though he may have floated ashore. The community are keen to take care of the new arrival. Fairly quickly Ambrose takes a lead on this and he and his wife (Christine) adopt the boy. They already have a son of their own - Declan. They name the new arrival Brendan.

We learn about Ambrose's extended family and their lives as well as the lives of others around. Ambrose is a fishman with his own boat although he joins up with Tommy who also has a boat to improve their chances. And life goes on…. The story covers about 20 years of life in the town.

While life does go on, often nothing much is happening in a dryly understated way here. There are the highs and lows of family and town life. Brendan might be described as odd and he and his brother Declan do not get on. Declan's grandfather's health is deteriorating and that puts pressures on the family. The fishing is variable and can be dangerous. The story is told from within the family at times however it is also told by an unknown local narrator & observer.

I really enjoyed this very Irish story. There is sadness and joy and some rich characters. I loved finding out the real meaning of "Sure, it will be grand"! I found this dryly understated much of the time. The writing was good and kept me involved throughout. If you want "action" this is unlikely to be for you. However if good characters and writing are you things this is well worth a look.

When a baby is found in a barrel on a beach, the small fishing village is agog. They think that he's been washed in from the sea although common sense says otherwise. A,brose Bonner, a respected fisherman, decides to take him home and adopt him so he now has two sons. And so the scene is set.
Over two decades we follow the Bonner family's life as fishermen. This isn't a sweeping saga, more of a gentle tale.
The descriptions of Irish fishing life are evocative but for me, I couldn't like any of the characters at all, even the boy from the sea and that is why it got 3 stars.

'The Boy from the Sea' is an immersive and moving novel set over two decades in the Donegal fishing town of Killybegs. The novel begins in 1973 when a baby boy is found abandoned on the beach, and fisherman Ambrose Bonnar and his wife Christine decides to take in 'the boy from the sea' and adopt him. We follow the impact of this on the rest of Ambrose and Christine's family - their older son Declan, Christine's unmarried sister Phyllis and her father Eunan - as Brendan grows up.

Much of the novel revolves around this cast of six - there is much love in this family but also we see increasing faultlines emerge: Declan's resentment of his new brother; the demands Eunan places on Phyllis and Phyllis's desire to make Christine share this burden; the tensions in Ambrose and Christine's marriage caused by financial worries. Each of these characters are intimately drawn and we become deeply invested in their lives and relationships.

Something I particularly admired about this novel was its unusual narrative perspective, written in the shared voice of the residents of Killybegs. This first-person plural perspective allows us to build up a picture of this community and the way that rumours and superstitions circulate - though, perhaps in a deliberate effort to destabilise the novel, there are contradictions within this voice as we are also given frequent access to different characters' inner lives.

I also loved the detail with which Garrett Carr writes about the fishing industry - I learnt a huge amount from reading the novel, and many of its most thrilling scenes take place on board Ambrose's boat, the Christine Dawn, while the desire to venture out as far as Rockall is something that haunts both Ambrose and Declan.

This is a powerful debut novel with a great sense of place. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

Such a beautifully written book, lyrical and spellbinding, that brings the community and setting of the story to life on the page. You really felt like you were back in the 70s and 80s amidst the fishing community with all the troubles of those times. An abandoned baby found floating in a barrel at sea becomes the centre of this tight knit fishing community. Ambrose Bonnar’s decision to adopt the baby ripples through his family and the community forever. This is a story of family and community, values, love, despair and hope.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for a review.

This is a magnificent book. I never wanted to put it down and was both eager and reluctant to get to the end.

But it begins and is set in a small town on the west coast of Ireland. One of the residents finds a newborn baby abandoned on the beach. The “boy from the sea” as he was known by the community is adopted by Ambrose Bonnar, a fisherman, and his family. While on the face of it, this is an extremely generous deed and Ambrose loves the child, it brings trouble to the whole family. Ambrose’s wife Christine loves the little boy, who they name Brendan, but she worries about him as he seems so different and struggles to find his place in the world. And for Declan, Ambrose and Christine’s biological son who is a couple of years older than Brendan, he is instantly jealous and the competition between the two boys is central to the story. We see how Brendan’s presence impacts the family over the course of 20 years and how it changes them irreversibly.

While the focus of this book is the story of the Bonnars, it is as much about the town they live in, the people in the community and the importance of the coast and fishing to them. The story is told from the perspective of someone or some unnamed people in the community and as such we get a wonderful level of detail which feels perfect without overwhelming the main story. The author has managed to really give the reader a sense of the environment and conjure up images of the beauty and harshness of the sea. And while I would’ve loved the story to go on, it felt right that we had this little window into their lives and it is left to the reader’s imagination to decide what happens next. Having said that, I would jump at the chance to read more on these characters as well as anything else that this author writes.

I highly recommend this book and really hope that others enjoy it as much as I have. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

"Did you enjoy the book 100 Years of Solitude?" a woman once asked me. "Not that much," I responded. "Oh, so you don't like Irish authors," she replied. "I'm pretty sure he's Colombian," I said. "It's the style," she explained.

I've remained perplexed by this discussion, but The Boy from the Sea helped me understand this interaction. This isn't a fast-paced book with a grand narrative arc. The beauty lies in the small details, the descriptions, and the fluency of the writing. Essentially, it's about an Irish fishing family who adopts a son, and things don't go smoothly.

This is one of the most unlikely books I would read. I was enticed by the family drama element but didn't expect fishing to be such a fundamental part of the story! Nevertheless, I enjoyed it. The writing was exquisite, and I was especially intrigued towards the end.

The Boy from the Sea (forthcoming February 2025) by Garrett Carr is an engrossing debut novel that explores the complexities of family dynamics, community bonds, and the search for personal identity, all set against the beautiful backdrop of a small Irish coastal town.

The story opens in 1973 with the mysterious discovery of an abandoned baby on the beach. Fisherman Ambrose Bonnar, a man more comfortable on the water than on land, takes the child in, naming him Brendan. What seems like a simple act of kindness propels the family and their community into two decades of profound emotional upheaval, internal conflict, and soul-searching that echoes through the lives of the Bonnar family.

At the heart of the story is Ambrose, a steadfast man whose love for his sons is unquestionable, yet his inability to navigate the simmering tension between them becomes a key source of friction. Ambrose’s wife Christine is the glue that holds the family together but her devotion to her husband and sons is tested to the limits with the arrival of Brendan. Their biological son Declan harbours a deep-rooted jealousy and resentment toward Brendan, sparking a rivalry that will shape their futures.

Carr’s prose is beautifully lyrical and blends the various themes seamlessly. The narrative unfolds at a slow but immersive pace. It's a captivating exploration of what it means to belong, to be accepted, and to search for one's place in a world that's ever changing. Carr is undoubtedly an author to watch.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Picador for the invitation to review this book.

The Boy from the Sea is a moving book that follows the hardships of the Bonner family. Set in a tight knit Irish community we follow this family through a 20 year period. I loved the characterisation and the relationships explored. The observations on identify felt really raw. The prose is great with a wise voice and dry humour sprinkled throughout. There is also a sense of magical realism that draws you in as a reader. Overall a charming read about human life. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

There is a slow build up to this beautiful, emotion packed story set in the 70's in Donegal, Ireland. The finding of an abandoned baby links the various aspects of the story. It is a story of the changing economic rewards of fishing. It is the story of a family taking on a new baby and the sibling rivalry it creates. It is the story of two sisters and the burden of caring for frail but belligerent father and the fallout that cuts bonds.It is te story of a baby who grows looking for love and his own place in a family and community.
So well written with interesting characters,tough scenarios and above all emotionally engaging

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of this lovely book.

The Boy From The Sea is a gentle yet quietly powerful read. Set in the 1980s, it tells the story of a family in Donegal who take in Brendan, a boy found in a barrel on the shoreline. The novel focuses on Ambrose, the father, a principled man determined to do what’s right. He believes bringing Brendan into their family is the right thing to do. While his wife, Christine, comes to accept this, the relationship between Brendan and their biological son, Declan, is complex and often difficult as the boys grow up.

The story unfolds in a small Donegal town heavily reliant on fishing—a tough place to raise a family. The author captures the harsh realities of this industry, showing how it strains families and communities. The book highlights the shift from small local fishing boats to large, industrial vessels that quickly depleted fish stocks. This shift not only impacts local families but hints at the global consequences of this move.

This isn’t an exciting, fast-paced novel, but it isn't trying to be. It is a reflective story about community, family, and how the changing world pushes people away from their roots in search of better opportunities. It is a thoughtful and rewarding read that will stay with me a long time.

This was an unusual style of book for me. It was a very gentle, slow paced story in which the reader is included from the start and throughout in the unusual third person narration. The
characters are easily recognisable as examples as those that could be found in any family of the time. The daughter who gets left at home to look after the parent(s), the rivalry between the clever child and the less clever child for example. The author deals beautifully with the changing effects over time the baby found on the beach has on individuals and on the villagers as they do with the more intimate relationships such as that of sisters Christine and Phyllis and fishermen Tommy and Ambrose. This book has so many levels and relationships I can see me returning to it again and again. A wonderful read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

The Boy from the Sea by Garrett Carr.
A wonderfully written book which takes the reader back to a time when people were heavily influenced by their forefathers.
I was there when they found the baby.
I was there gossiping with the villagers.
I was there when the family struggled.
I was there throughout the turmoil and throughout the happiness.
You an be there too. Just turn to page 1.

The ups and downs of a family's life.
This book is set in the small town of Killibegs, a fishing port of Donegal on the west coast of Ireland. It starts in the early 1970s and covers the next two decades. The people of Killibegs are a tight-knit community, but an incomer, Ambrose Bonnar, is accepted into the community. He marries Christine, and they have a son, Declan.o
A couple of years later, a baby boy is found on the shore in a small barrel lined with tinfoil. There is some dispute as to whether he has been washed ashore, hence the name of the book, or was merely left there. He is temporarily housed with the Bonnars, and they eventually adopt him and name him Brandon. Declan is not accepting of this, and his animosity towards Brandon continues as they grow up, but it is not reciprocated.
This is a mostly gentle story interspersed by vivid descriptions of severe storms at sea and their effects on ships and crews. It is all told in the third person as 'we' who includes ongoing details of the lives of various individuals in the town.
This is a beautifully written and inspires compulsive yet thoughtful reading.

I've been thinking a lot about this book "The Boy from the Sea" by Garrett Carr for several days now. I've been flitting between 4 and 5 stars. The general plot, tone, pace of the book deserves a 4 but there is a beautiful line towards the very end of the book about the character purchasing an expensive pillow and it has stayed with me ever since, and for this reason this book deserves a 5. Set in Ireland in the 1970s, life is hard, with not much choice of work apart from fishing. This book isn't fancy or frilly but it does focus on the small details of every day life and you see how Brendan (the boy from the sea) affects those around him. Very understated.

The story unfolds in 1973 within a small fishing community on the west coast of Ireland, where a miraculous event occurs when a baby boy is washed ashore in a barrel. , the child is taken in by a local fisherman, marking the beginning of a journey filled with wonder. The narrative progresses at a gentle pace, allowing the reader to savor each moment and the depth of the characters’ lives. The prose in the book stands out as one of its strongest and most delightful aspects. It beautifully captures the nuances and complexities of the characters, allowing readers to truly appreciate their dimensions. Overall, it is a brilliant read that immerses you in a realm of magical realism, which happens to be one of my favorite genres.

A lovely story. Beautiful Irish location setting really added charm to the story. Some unforgettable characters along the way made for a book that flowed well with a good pace.

The author’s debut adult novel after a non-fiction book and a number of Young Adult novels, and an enjoyable one with a very distinctive voice.

The book opens in 1973 in a small but close-knit fishing town in Donegal Bay on the Atlantic Coast of Ireland. In the book’s opening chapter, a young baby boy is found in a barrel floating just off a beach on the edge of the town and the town immediately take “the boy from the sea” to their heart. After a few days of being looked after by the District Nurse, a local fisherman Ambrose Bonnar (an itinerant fisherman who eventually settled in the town and is now married to Christine and with a two year old Declan – the family living just down the road from Christine’s cantankerous father “He mocked anything frivolous: placemats, dessert, having a lie-in, suffering from your nerves. ‘Get away out of that!’ he’d shout at cream cakes and people with hay fever” and unmarried sister Phyliss) offers to take him for a night. Originally the idea is for the baby to be taken in by different families very night – but the Bonnar’s take to him, decide to name him Brendan and then in time adopt him to the approval and support of the town.

The book then plays out over decades in the lives of the family members:

Ambrose’s struggles to keep his rather traditional and low key four-man-crewed fishing vessel viable as technology and EU quotas come into play and his closest partner and friend buys more and more ambitious and advanced vessels while maintaining his discretion and modesty “If there was a trophy for not mentioning things Tommy would’ve won it, then kept it at the back of his wardrobe and never mentioned it”

Christine’s difficult relationship with Phyllis who uses her position of servitude to her father to exert a mix of guilt and judgement on Christine (including making it clear she does not approve of the adoption);

Declan desperate for his father’s attention and approval and resentful and jealous of Brendan;

And Brendan adopted by the town as some form of almost-saint, encouraged to give townfolk informal blessings but then over time struggling with a sense of slightly inflated self worth “If Brendan had quickly reverted to his original manner the custom might’ve been saved but instead he became sneaky, blessing us without invitation. We’d be queuing in Hegarty’s shop and he’d pat our arms as he went by, muttering. It was a bit much when we were only after eggs or a jar of Nescafé.”

But the real start of the book is the oft-times narrator, a collective first person voice of the town starting with the opening lines “We were a hardy people, raised facing the Atlantic” sometimes narrating the town’s views on developments in the lives of the Bonnars; sometimes noting on the town’s customs and approach to life “A note on our use of the word ‘grand’ is here required. It might sound like a relative of good or great but in our usage it was something different. ‘Grand’ was how we acknowledged that something wasn’t good or great while also saying nothing could be done and there was no point going on about it.”; often just noting the passing of time with a recurring phrase “the season turned” in a way which reminded me of Jon McGregor’s “Reservoir 13”

And often, like much of the text, threaded with a sense of dry humour as in a number of the examples I have quoted, which made it a pleasure to read.