Himself

By Jess Kidd

Book Overview

A charming ne'er-do-well returns to his haunted Irish hometown to uncover the truth about his mother in this "supernaturally skilled debut" (Vanity Fair) and turns the town--and his life--upside down.

Having been abandoned at an orphanage as a baby, Mahony assumed all his life that his mother wanted nothing to do with him. That is, until one night in 1976 while drinking a pint at a Dublin pub, he receives an anonymous note implying that she may have been forced to give him up. Determined to find out what really happened, Mahony embarks on a pilgrimage back to his hometown, the rural village of Mulderrig. Neither he nor Mulderrig can possibly prepare for what's in store...

From the moment he arrives, Mahony's presence completely changes the village. Women fall all over themselves. The real and the fantastic are blurred. Chatty ghosts rise from their graves with secrets to tell, and local preacher Father Quinn will do anything to get rid of the slippery young man who is threatening the moral purity of his parish.

A spectacular new addition to the grand Irish storytelling tradition, Himself "is a darkly comic tale of murder, intrigue, haunting and illegitimacy...wickedly funny" (Daily Express).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1501145185
• ISBN13: 9781501145186
• Release Date: October 2017
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Atmospheric, chilling, illuminating

What a beautifully written and authentically, darkly Irish story. A story about justice, about truth, and about making your own way in the world. This is about the sins of the past and the sin of pretending the past never happened. (I'm not sure why cruelty against animals is considered so much worse than brutal murders, but that's just me. This book is dark, check your trigger warnings if you're worried, but it's expertly told.) Kidd is a true storyteller. 5 stars.

HIMSELF could have been great.

Jes Kidd has a way of writing I would enjoy if she could be effective without the animal cruelty. Don't know if she thinks that graphic torture of animals is of any benefit to the story but not my cup of tea. I put all three of her books down for the same reason.