The Gamal
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- 16,99 €
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- 16,99 €
Descripción editorial
Winner of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature
'A gritty, modern Romeo and Juliet told by a compelling and original voice' Independent
'He is a tremendous storyteller ... a cracking debut, as moving as it is entertaining' New York Times
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Charlie has a story to tell, about his best friends Sinéad and James and the bad things that happened.
But he can't tell it yet, at least not 'til he's worked out where the beginning is. Because is the beginning long ago when Sinéad first spoke up for him after Charlie got in trouble at school for the millionth time? Or was it later, when Sinéad and James followed the music and found each other? Or was it later still on that terrible night when something unspeakable happened and someone chose to turn a blind eye?
This is the story of the dark heart of an Irish village, of how daring to be different can be dangerous and how there is nothing a person will not do for love. This is the story of the Gamal.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Collins's confident debut novel concerns Charlie McCarthy and his friends James Kent and Sin ad Halloran, three teenagers who live in the small town of Ballyronan, Northern Ireland. Charlie, James and Sin ad's sidekick, is the village "gamal," an "eejit" whom, he says, people find "less-ish." "You won't like me," he predicts, but his off-kilter voice is incredibly appealing. James and Sin ad are inseparable until rumors surface that Sin ad was raped by a traveling musician known as the Rascal. Or was it consensual? Either way, James is distraught. Because James is distraught, Sin ad is distraught, and their relationship is in danger of falling apart. The drama comes to a head in the worst possible way, and it's understandable how Charlie comes to suffer from PTSD. (His doctor has convinced him to write out his story as part of the treatment.) Collins takes the familiar coming-of-age storyline of adolescent romance and tragedy and artfully depicts adolescent emotional distress without straying into melodrama. The novel, framed in flashback so that the story emerges through Charlie's remembrances and transcripts from the resultant hearings, is cannily paced and rich with Irish dialect.
