Where Are the Kings

A new Donal Ryan novel is always something to anticipate keenly and there is nothing to disappoint in the marvellous coming-of-age tale Where Are the Kings… A marvellous portrait of a bewildered , sad boy trying to understand a bizarre family with so many secrets while also making sense of the person he is becoming at the very moment of his dawning sexuality… A novel that has so much to say about how emotions fester , sibling jealousy, the weightlessness and formlessness of guilt , and the sudden healing power of "a deluge of love". * Independent *
A novel bursting at the seams with love, humour and compassion. * Saga *
In his story of a family wracked by loss, the prizewinning Irish author’s incisive prose and flashes of humour keep mawkish sentiment in check… this is a book marked by a frank and unusually high compassion for the uniquely trying experience of early adolescence…. It’s this kind of gentle but deep empathy that gives Where Are the Kings its radiance. * Financial Times *
How is this tragic tale so funny? . . . Where Are the Kings has its tragedies, but they are wrapped in hope and human decency . . . this is a small book about small lives . . . written with tenderness and attention * Sunday Times *
Here is a book that will break your heart and stitch it back together again . . . Wisdom and tenderness lie at its core, a Ryan trademark, but this novel is extremely funny on the subject of teenage boys, and pitch perfect in its depiction of rural Irish life. * Irish Independent *
A timeless tale of family drama in rural Ireland . . . A gentle novel of ungentle things * Guardian *
Ryan elevates a story about adolescent grief and sexual awakening with prose of vivid, gleaming buoyancy. Every sentence is a treat. * Daily Mail *
All the characters are richly and idiosyncratically drawn . . . the writing […] recalls James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man . . . Ryan offersa vivid and engaging account of Jack's life in the bustling rural household * Spectator *
As is always the case in Ryan's novels, solidarity is the only true cement... From tragedy springs a moral: ‘Every single particle in the universe exerts a force on every single other particle. Nothing exists in isolation.' Where Are the Kings is a marvellous study of the mind in crisis. * Literary Review *
Donal Ryan's wrenching, gorgeous story of an orphaned boy connects the tectonic emotions of adolescence to the stormy tempers of the natural world * Irish Times *
A new Donal Ryan novel is always something to be celebrated. For me, he has been the most consistently brilliant Irish writer of the last 15 years. -- John Boyne * Irish Independent *
Vivacious, likeable characters from rural, working-class community . . . this is a complicated family dealing with its own secrets and lies, but grounded by a basic sense of decency and compassion * TLS *
Beautiful, hilarious and completely gripping… I fell in love with the whole family, the sheer goodness of them, the way Donal Ryan gets inside Jack’s heart and head and explores the gap between them, what he knows and feels… a story filled with love that shines a light on all the hidden places. My life is better because of it. * Rachel Joyce, author of The Homemade God *
A meditation on family, love and grief that made me laugh and cry in equal measure. A triumph * Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things *
I have been a fan of Donal's writing for the longest time...This novel though... oh my heart. To explore grief through the eyes of a child, and to do it so exquisitely and so elegantly, is just mind-blowing. The thing I LOVE about Donal Ryan's writing is that he uncovers the poetry that hides within ordinary life. He also conjures up characters so solid, so complete and authentic, it immediately feels as though you have known them for your entire life. * Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep *
No one gets inside the heart like Donal Ryan. A book about belonging and coming home, about letting go and finding family. I loved it from the first word to the last. * Kit de Waal *
Where are the Kings is a brilliant, quietly devastating exploration of the fledgling heart. Tender, funny, mysterious and hopeful, it’s a flawless gem about the imperfect yet profound ways in which families love, and what that love costs. * M L Stedman, Sunday Times bestselling author of A Far-flung Life and The Light Between Oceans *
The arrival of a new Donal Ryan novel always feels like Christmas morning and Where are the Kings does not disappoint. It's a powerful meditation on boyhood, family and trauma, expertly couched in Ryan's devastating prose. Warm, irreverent and desperately humane this is a novel which manages to be timeless, current and prescient. * Jan Carson, author of Few & Far Between *
You know when a book is so arresting, so captivating, that you have to actively seek a long time just to think about it – to luxuriate in the characters in all their charm and humour and sadness and confusion, a book that makes you look at the world differently, while at the same time cranking open your heart and letting the whole world pour in…We are the Kings. This is that book. * Annie Macmanus *
Ryan has an exceptional ability to capture the complexities of ordinary lives, and this beautifully crafted novel is filled with compassion, humour and humanity. * Mature Times *
There is an alchemy in how Ryan transforms a kitchen table or a garage into an arena of hope and pain . . . It’s what we’ve seen Ryan do time after time, and yet these blocks of symphonic, unspooling sentences still feel like contained literary achievements . . . It is the trademark conjuring of a writer who gives voice to Irish peculiarities of the heart . . . More poignantly, Jack’s coming-of-age odyssey speaks to the ability of unshowy, everyday humanity to make up some of the ground lost to tragedy. * Sunday Independent *
Crackling with humorous dialogue, it's a novel of rare humanity and beautiful tenderness that lives long in the mind. Highly recommended. * Irish Mail on Sunday *
Donal Ryan has a talent for making the daily stories of family stand wonderfully large . . . The beauty is in moments laced with heartbreak and humour. * Sainsbury's Magazine *
[Donal Ryan] has long been one of my favourites, with his books never ever disappointing. He's an instant-buy kind of author and beloved by so many in Ireland. * Her *
Donal Ryan has long had a gift for writing families in all their messy complexity and his latest is no exception . . . Warm and funny despite the theme of loss threaded throughout, Ryan explores grief, growing up and the stories families tell – and don’t tell – with the compassion that has made him one of Ireland’s most beloved novelists. * Image *