The story starts roughly in the years 1973-4 and is narrated by the author, using the first person plural, "we", as though it is the townspeople who are collectively writing. 

The first chapter describes the weather, the town, the people, their attitudes to living there, the main industries, fishing and fish processing and introduces the reader to some of the characters. 

One particular resident, who has just walked into town with a baby wrapped in blankets, is Mossy Shovlin, followed by a crowd of townspeople and children, who started walking behind him as they saw him carrying a baby through town, eager to know more. 

He arrived at the branch of the Ulster Bank and mounted the front steps, where he turned to address the throng. 

He told them that he had just found and picked up this baby out of an orange barrel, which had been cut in half down the middle, and cast adrift as a boat, and drifted into the cove called the 'Ship's Graveyard', just outside town. He said, "the tide brought the child in, he was laid in a barrel"

Some questions are asked, like "who's he belonging to?" Mossy explained that the baby belonged to nobody, "he's a gift from the sea", he said, "go to the stony beach if you think I'm lying" and so the story of 'The Boy From The Sea' unfolds.

The district nurse inspected the castaway and declared him to be healthy. He was laid in a crib for the night, but the nurse said she could not look after him, she was too busy. He will have to be shared amongst the townsfolk.

The following day, a local fisherman, Ambrose Bonnar, arrived at the nurse's house and volunteered to take the baby for the night. He has a two-year-old son, so his wife, Christine, and he are used to small children. Ambrose took him home and introduced him to the Bonnar family. His son, Declan, was not happy, seeing his father doting over the baby who appeared to be stealing his father's love.

The nurse phoned the next day to say the other couple who had volunteered to take the baby, had called off. Could he keep the child a little longer? He agreed, saying that he could keep the child permanently. 

They agree and, after a few weeks, they have signed an adoption application and became his legal parents, much to the chagrin of Christine's sister, Phyllis, and their father, Eunan, who believe they have jumped into this adoption thing without much thought. 

The baby, now named Brendan, begins life with his new family and the story takes you on a roller-coaster ride through the lives of all six . Brendan captivates the people of the town and as he grows, he captivates them even more...

The story continues with a detailed history of Ambrose' life and Christine's and Phyllis' lives, how Ambrose and Christine first met, their courtship, marriage and building their house, not far from the in-laws, the Lyons', home. Phyllis lives at home, looking after her father, Eunan, since her mother died. 

In a changing world it follows a detailed look at the world of fishing, including the unwelcome introduction of foreign fishing vessels round the coast of Ireland. In 1973, the Republic of Ireland and the UK has just joined the Common Market or European Economic Community (EEC) or European Union (EU) whatever you want to call it. 

Readers follow Ambrose' career from a fisherman, to ship owner and skipper. Following Christine's adventures as a housewife and part-time cleaner and her father and sister's turbulent relationship.

The author, as the 'we' of Killybegs, continues to map out the sibling rivalry of Declan's outright hatred of Brendan and Brendan's indifference to Declan, from preschool age through primary, to high school. 

The writing explores what bind us, as family and community especially moving towards the future.

The book includes quite a bit of Irish phrasing such as, 'it'll be grand', meaning, 'things should work out ok' and 'good man' meaning 'look at you, you did well.' It portrays an attitude of Irish devilment, humour and 'que sera sera' (whatever will be, will be) and leaves you feeling a gentle attraction towards the people. 

The reader may not be familiar with some of the author's use of brand names for certain products, brand names that are only known to UK and Irish readers. However, the context in which they are used will probably allow 'the penny to drop', so to speak.

Talking about speaking. It seems I am frequently finding books containing American 'lazy speak' words and this book is no exception.

There is a profusion of the word 'gotten' and, as I always say, the only time 'gotten' should be used is in the word 'forgotten' and that's what it should be, forgotten. There are a number of very good English words that can be used in its place.

However,I am delighted that this book has zero typos, so congratulations to the writer and the proofreader.

I would highly recommend this book. It is a great story, and has an amusing and stimulating writing style. 

Reviewed by Ken

The Author

Garrett Carr teaches Creative Writing at the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen's University Belfast, and has published three YA novels with Simon & Schuster. The Rule of the Land: Walking Ireland's Border was published by Faber in 2017 and was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. Garrett is a frequent contributor to The Guardian and The Irish Times. The Boy from the Sea is his debut novel for adults.