Himself

by Jess Kidd

A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Choice
Shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards 2016
Shortlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award 2017
Longlisted for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 2017

When Mahony returns to Mulderrig, a speck of a place on Ireland's west coast, he brings only a photograph of his long-lost mother and a determination to do battle with the lies of his past.

No one - living or dead - will tell Mahony what happened to the teenage mother who abandoned him as a baby, despite his certainty that more than one of the villagers knows the sinister truth.

Between Mulderrig's sly priest, its pitiless nurse and the caustic elderly actress throwing herself into her final village play, this beautiful and darkly comic debut novel creates an unforgettable world of mystery, bloody violence and buried secrets.

• ISBN10: 1782118454
• ISBN13: 9781782118459
• Publish Date: 27 October 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 7 April 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Canongate Books
• Edition: Main
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[rohshey]

I seem to be on a kick for reading books which take place in Ireland lately. Not that I’m saying that’s a bad thing, but it’s amusing that after reading The Heart's invisible furies, my mind seemed much more well-put-together for this particular book. The two don’t share much else in common, but honestly, the charm of Irish writing is more than enough to keep me paying attention.

And Kidd definitely knows how to tell a story.

I thought this novel had all the things I like in a book such as Irish folklore, a mystery to solve, and ghosts of both people and pets. The Irish setting is original and alive with exceptionally skillful writing, with gems of phrasing on every page.

So what went wrong? As it's often happens with great story, stupid characters doing stupid shit. Like can we not have a male MC who is so “handsome” and so “flawless” that women of all ages ranging from 14 year old to 60 are ready to become his sex slave without actually giving any real insight as to what makes him so special? Also can we not have female characters whose sole purpose in the story is to pine over a dude who has no interest over her whatsoever?

Lastly, my biggest concern was combination of the lyricism and magic realism that too frequently tip over into Irish whimsy. Perhaps throwing crime, comedy and magic realism into the one novel is a combination too far.

[chymerra]

Told in 3rd person, Himself is a book about a young man trying to find out what happened to his mother in a small village in Ireland. With supernatural, mystery and crime woven into the book, Himself is a book that will suck you in and not let you out until you finish it.

I was truly surprised at how much I liked this book. I couldn’t get enough of it and found myself reading it while waiting for my kids bus, while cooking supper, eating supper and at night in bed. It was literally book crack for me. I couldn’t get enough of Mahony’s story and of all the other secondary plotlines going on.

I really liked Mahony and definitely felt for him while he was searching for answers for what happened to Orla and who his father was. He had so much opposition but also had so much help, if that makes sense.

The mystery of who killed Orla was a true mystery to the end. The author did a great job at hiding his identity. It was only when the dog was killed and then showed up by the killer’s side was I clued in. Well that and the other two murders in the village.

I loved the supernatural elements of the book. The ghosts, the storm, the pagan stream in the priest’s house (which was ironic and funny to me), just added more depth to the book. I like that the ghosts were not who they were in real life and they kept their secrets as well as they did when they were alive.

What I really liked about this book was that not all the storylines were resolved in a way that was satisfactory or not at all. One storyline, I do think I figured out who it was ( read the book if you want to know what I am talking about….haha).

How many stars will I give Himself: 5

Why: A great book that had so many layers to it, it resembled an onion in my mind. Once I peeled one layer back, another one appeared. The characters were multi dimensional (hence the layers) and the storylines were not all happily resolved.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Older teen (16+)

Why: Violence

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**