How to Build a Boat
AS SEEN ON BBC BETWEEN THE COVERS
Published on 18. April 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-1-5299-2009-3 (ISBN)
Description
** SHORTLISTED FOR BEST NOVEL OF THE YEAR, IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2023 **
** LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023 **
Meet Jamie and his community on the west coast of Ireland in the most uplifting and tender book of the year
'A gorgeous gift of a novel'
Douglas Stuart, no.1 bestselling author of Shuggie Bain
'Heart-rending and delightful'
Louise Kennedy, no.1 bestselling author of Trespasses
Jamie O'Neill loves the colour red. He also loves tall trees, patterns, rain that comes with wind, the curvature of many objects, books with dust jackets, cats, rivers and Edgar Allan Poe. At age 13 there are two things he especially wants in life: to build a Perpetual Motion Machine, and to connect with his mother Noelle, who died when he was born. In his mind these things are intimately linked. And at his new school, where all else is disorientating and overwhelming, he finds two people who might just be able to help him.
How to Build a Boat is the story of how one boy and his mission transforms the lives of his teachers, Tess and Tadhg, and brings together a community. Written with tenderness and verve, it's about love, family and connection, the power of imagination, and how our greatest adventures never happen alone.
'A heart-stopping read' - Sinead Gleeson, author of Constellations
'Bursting with soul' - Lisa McInerney, author of The Rules of Revelation
'I can't wait for readers to fall in love' - Jan Carson, author of The Raptures
** LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023 **
Meet Jamie and his community on the west coast of Ireland in the most uplifting and tender book of the year
'A gorgeous gift of a novel'
Douglas Stuart, no.1 bestselling author of Shuggie Bain
'Heart-rending and delightful'
Louise Kennedy, no.1 bestselling author of Trespasses
Jamie O'Neill loves the colour red. He also loves tall trees, patterns, rain that comes with wind, the curvature of many objects, books with dust jackets, cats, rivers and Edgar Allan Poe. At age 13 there are two things he especially wants in life: to build a Perpetual Motion Machine, and to connect with his mother Noelle, who died when he was born. In his mind these things are intimately linked. And at his new school, where all else is disorientating and overwhelming, he finds two people who might just be able to help him.
How to Build a Boat is the story of how one boy and his mission transforms the lives of his teachers, Tess and Tadhg, and brings together a community. Written with tenderness and verve, it's about love, family and connection, the power of imagination, and how our greatest adventures never happen alone.
'A heart-stopping read' - Sinead Gleeson, author of Constellations
'Bursting with soul' - Lisa McInerney, author of The Rules of Revelation
'I can't wait for readers to fall in love' - Jan Carson, author of The Raptures
Reviews / Votes
A heart-rending and delightful voyage... Elaine Feeney has a poet's way with words and uncanny understanding of human frailty -- Louise Kennedy, author of TRESPASSES * Observer, *Summer Reads of 2023* *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 125 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
216 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5299-2009-3 (9781529920093)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
04/2023
Vintage Digital
€8.99
Available for download
Person
Elaine Feeney is an acclaimed novelist and poet from the west of Ireland. Her debut novel, As You Were, was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize and the Irish Novel of the Year Award, and won the Kate O'Brien Award, the McKitterick Prize and the Dalkey Festival Emerging Writer Award. How to Build a Boat was also shortlisted for Irish Novel of the Year, longlisted for the Booker Prize, and was a New Yorker Best Book of the Year. Feeney has published the poetry collections Where's Katie?, The Radio Was Gospel, Rise and All the Good Things You Deserve, and lectures at the University of Galway.