How to Build a Boat
AS SEEN ON BBC BETWEEN THE COVERS
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3.8 • 19 Ratings
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
** SHORTLISTED FOR BEST NOVEL OF THE YEAR, IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2023 **
** LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023 **
Meet Jamie and his community on the west coast of Ireland in the most uplifting and tender book of the year
'A gorgeous gift of a novel'
Douglas Stuart, no.1 bestselling author of Shuggie Bain
'Heart-rending and delightful'
Louise Kennedy, no.1 bestselling author of Trespasses
Jamie O'Neill loves the colour red. He also loves tall trees, patterns, rain that comes with wind, the curvature of many objects, books with dust jackets, cats, rivers and Edgar Allan Poe. At age 13 there are two things he especially wants in life: to build a Perpetual Motion Machine, and to connect with his mother Noelle, who died when he was born. In his mind these things are intimately linked. And at his new school, where all else is disorientating and overwhelming, he finds two people who might just be able to help him.
How to Build a Boat is the story of how one boy and his mission transforms the lives of his teachers, Tess and Tadhg, and brings together a community. Written with tenderness and verve, it's about love, family and connection, the power of imagination, and how our greatest adventures never happen alone.
'A heart-stopping read' - Sinéad Gleeson, author of Constellations
'Bursting with soul' - Lisa McInerney, author of The Rules of Revelation
'I can't wait for readers to fall in love' - Jan Carson, author of The Raptures
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Irish novelist and poet Feeney (As You Were) delivers the touching story of a neurodivergent boy and the community that comes to his aid. In Galway, 13-year-old Jamie O'Neill dreams of building a perpetual motion machine that, in his mind, will connect him to his late mother, who died giving birth to him. Jamie knows the exact number of steps from home to his new school, where he faces bullies, beatings, and a school president, Father Faulks, who is hostile to students with special needs. Fortunately, he finds a sympathetic teacher in Tess Mahon, who is wilting under the strain of an unhappy marriage. Tess, in turn, introduces Jamie to the new woodwork teacher, Tadhg Foley, who suggests working with the boy to build a currach, a kind of boat. Pretty soon, other boys at the school join in the project, giving the usually isolated Jamie a much-needed sense of community. Only Father Faulks stands in the way of a smooth launch for the currach. The author has a beautiful, crystal-clear prose style that penetrates to the emotional core of her three main characters, whose hurts and desires are achingly rendered on the way to a quietly triumphant ending. Readers will not soon forget Jamie and his quest to make sense of a confusing world.
