Mouthing

Orla Mackey

£10.99

Welcome to Ballyrowan. This sleepy corner of rural Ireland may seem tranquil, but scratch the surface and you’ll find a hotbed of gossip and intrigue – endless material for mouthing – and a town full of people only too happy to oblige in spreading the bad news. Narrated by several generations of villagers, ‘Mouthing’ traces the fortunes of one small community from the mid-20th century to the early 21st, in a series of highly confessional and darkly hilarious monologues. The good people of Ballyrowan delight in twisting the knife, in tormenting one another, in perfecting the art of schadenfreude. And, it becomes clear, none of them are entirely reliable witnesses.

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Publish Date: 17/04/2025

Description

The bestselling Irish debut novel – a multigenerational portrait of small-town life bursting with caustic wit – for fans of Jon McGregor, Elizabeth Strout and Paul Murray

Welcome to Ballyrowan: a village built out of stories. Stories about the girl who got herself into trouble and disappeared to America, the brother and sister who both went mad, the priest who tried to help them and the doctor who had them committed, about your man going off with a young one half his age, the child he left behind, the neighbour who took her in, and what was said and done about it afterwards . . .

‘Engrossing, funny, delightfully wicked’ Irish Times

‘A novel for anyone who ever wondered what the neighbours are really up to behind closed doors’ Jan Carson, author of The Raptures

‘Full of disgrace, inherited trauma and family secrets. It will make you laugh – because if you didn’t, you’d surely cry’ Aingeala Flannery

Additional information

Weight 183 g
Dimensions 198 × 129 × 16 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

240

Language

English

Edition

1st paperback ed

Dewey

823.92 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K