Himself

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Review ------ "A highly unusual tale set in a highly unusual Irish village full of dark secrets and engaging characters (not all of them still alive). Lushly imagined, delightfully original and very, very funny, it hurtles along from the very first page. A hugely enjoyable read. I can't wait for more from Jess Kidd."--M.L. Stedman, bestselling author of The Light Between Oceans "Jess Kidd is a genius. Her prose sparkles with wit, savagery and startling originality. I loved it."--Tasha Kavanagh, author of Things We Have In Common "I love this book. It's a magic realist murder mystery set in rural Ireland, in which the dead play as important a part as the living. It's one of those books that has you smiling as you read, and that you plan to read again very soon."--Louis de Bernières, bestselling author of Corelli's Mandolin "[A] fast-paced yarn that nimbly soars above the Irish crime fiction genre Kidd clearly knows very well."--New York Times Book Review "Over in Dublin, Jess Kidd's Himself is her supernaturally skillful debut. Irish eyes are glowing."--Vanity Fair "For the love of all that's right and true in the world, you've got to read Jess Kidd's debut Himself (Atria), a fabulously imaginative, darkly comic Irish tale set 'in the arse-end of beyond' in a village called Mulderigg. Reading this picaresque novel is like nursing a pint in a pub while a seanchaí, a traditional storyteller, trills the air with magic and mystery and a local modulates the narrative with irreverent commentary from a stool in the corner...In Mahony, the author has created a literary descendant of Henry Fielding's "Tom Jones" (also a foundling with parental issues), and in Mulderigg she's imagined a literary neighborhood akin to Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Macondo, a place populated with eccentric characters, living and dead. The plot races to an ending of Biblical proportions (as most Irish tales do) and it'll bring tears to your sorry eyes and joy to your hardened heart."--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "[A] whimsical mystery... That's the pleasure of Himself -- the way the novel's plot, with its delicate language and soft Irish lilt, wanders like lush green vines, never seeming to travel in straight lines. A villageful of characters emerge, all of them having a deft way with a line... The mystery here is how the living and the dead live side by side, and the joy is the music with which Kidd brings all of the characters to life."--The Seattle Times "This striking literary debut is a darkly comic tale of murder, intrigue, haunting and illegitimacy . . . wickedly funny."--Daily Express "Kidd's brilliantly bold debut mixes up murder and mayhem with the eerily supernatural. It's a tender, violent and funny story told in prose that is lyrical, lush and hugely imaginative. Utterly unputdownable."--Sunday Express Magazine "Page-turning and memorable . . . An exuberant rollercoaster of a read."--Irish Examiner About the Author ---------------- Jess Kidd is the award-winning author of Himself, Mr. Flood's Last Resort, and Things in Jars. She has a PhD in creative writing from St. Mary's University in London. She grew up as part of a large family from Ireland's County Mayo and now lives in London with her daughter. Her first book, Himself, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards. Learn more at JessKidd.com.