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"A consistently surprising, evocative, almost impossible to put down, and gloriously original work." —Booklist
A stunning debut novel from the Northern Irish poet Eoghan Walls, The Gospel of Orla is the coming-of-age story of a young girl, Orla, and the man she meets who has an astonishing and unique ability.
It is also a road novel that takes us across the north of England after the two flee Orla’s village together. Here the mysteries of faith charge full bore into the vagaries of contemporary mores. A humorous, wise, deeply human and sometimes breathtaking work of lyrical fiction.
“A melancholic, funny, and magical coming-of-age story, The Gospel of Orla is glorious, wise, and totally weird. I loved it.” —Annie Hartnett, author of Unlikely Animals
"Utterly convincing and fresh and original." —Colm Tóibín, author of The Magician
"In his debut novel, poet Eoghan Walls imagines the intersection of the material and the mystic. . . . As the troubled teenager ricochets between circus illusion and divine touch, she and the reader are beckoned to ponder where magic ends and miracles begin." —Kia Corthron, author of Moon and the Mars
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
March 7, 2023 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781644212837
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781644212837
- File size: 2690 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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February 15, 2023
This entrancing debut is told in the voice of Orla, a 14-year-old who lives in a village in the north of England. Her mother has recently died, and her father self-medicates with alcohol, which often leaves Orla in charge of looking after her much younger sister, Lily. Orla is regularly in trouble at school, largely for shoplifting, which she does in part to help her collect food for her planned escape to Ireland, where her mother is buried. On one of her attempted escapes, she runs into a mysterious man, whom she then witnesses perform seemingly impossible acts. From here the story becomes an odd-couple road novel, one full of pathos and humor. It is also a coming-of-age story, one that follows Orla's grief through the filter of her righteous teenage rage, her cast-iron belief in her own worldliness, and her childlike vulnerability. She is a brilliantly engaging protagonist. By blending a fable-like structure and Orla's grittily realistic voice, Wells has created a consistently surprising, evocative, almost impossible to put down, and gloriously original work.COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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