The Boy from the Sea

Since my son was born last year, I’ve found myself increasingly drawn to books about family, especially when a young boy is central to the story. So when I was offered a chance to read Garrett Carr‘s debut adult novel, The Boy from the Sea, I was immediately hooked. Set in the 1970s and 1980s in western Ireland, it’s about a family who takes in an abandoned newborn found on a beach. Ambrose and Christine already have a two-year-old son, Declan, and are happy to adopt this mysterious boy, naming him Brendan. Over the course of the two boys’ adolescence, Brendan affects the town in various ways, but will he ever feel truly a part of his adoptive family?

What I Liked:

• The lyrical, insightful, and often humorous writing. Garrett Carr’s writing is captivating from the first chapter. He has a way of absorbing readers into the story, even with his depictions of the seemingly mundane or inconsequential. There’s a lot of subtle humor throughout the novel, in a style I can only describe as very Irish. He also takes the time to explain Irish culture around how they speak (such as saying “it’s grand”), which I found both helpful and funny.
• The story is told from the collective point of view of the community. Though at first I envisioned one unnamed narrator, it’s actually always told from an anonymous “we,” all the people of town. It feels almost like an omniscient narrator, exposing little secrets that individuals in the Bonnar and Lyon families would keep. It’s all filled in with the kinds of insights into other people around town that only their neighbors would know. There’s also discussion of more macro impacts on Ireland, like the economy and politics, and how that directly impacts people’s day-to-day lives.
• A deep look at a fractured family. Adopting Brendan has ripples throughout the family (and town overall). While most are besotted by him, especially Ambrose, this leads to hard feelings for others. Declan is filled with jealousy, while Christine and her sister have a falling out about the adoption. Some people are suspicious of Brendan. Over the next 20 years, the family goes through ups and downs, major life events, miscommunication, misunderstanding each other, all as the two boys grow into young adults.
• The odd reveal of Brendan’s parentage. It’s interesting how this knowledge impacts Declan and I like the glimpse into how things might change for the brothers going forward.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• Not enough insight into how Brendan was feeling. Most of the characters get a lot of tension and we get a real sense of their inner world throughout the book. Brendan, though, always feels out of reach. We see him as those around him see him, but we don’t get to delve far into his mind ourselves. I wanted more on him, the titular character, and not just how everyone reacted to him.

Final Thoughts

The Boy from the Sea is a beautifully written character study into a family going through major changes in 1970s-1980s Ireland. I loved seeing how one mysterious little boy affected a whole town in such profound and unexpected ways. This book is at times heartbreaking yet often quite funny, and it’s perfect for people who love family dramas and Irish fiction. I’m eager to read more from Garrett Carr soon!

Special thanks to the publicists at Penguin Random House, Knopf, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy The Boy from the Sea here – it’s available as a hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

The Boy from the Sea by Garrett Carr
Audience	Adult
Genre	Literary Fiction; Historical Fiction
Setting	Ireland
Number of Pages	336
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	May 13, 2025
Publisher	Knopf

Official Summary

Set on Ireland’s west coast in the 1970s and 80s, a captivating debut novel about a baby boy who is discovered on the beach beside a small fishing town, as told by the locals who fall under the boy’s transfixing spell.


“Compassionate, lyrical and full of devilment.”—Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses

Ireland 1973, a baby boy is found on the beach of a close-knit fishing village. Fisherman Ambrose Bonnar offers to bring the child into his own family: his son, Declan, wife, Christine, and up the lane, Christine’s sister and aging father. The townspeople remain fascinated by the baby, now named Brendan, as he grows into a strange yet charismatic young man.  

The Boy from the Sea tells the story of a family and community, all thrown into turmoil by Brendan’s arrival. The family’s fortunes rise and fall over the years—as do the town’s, because nothing happens to one family here that doesn’t happen to them all—as the forces of a voracious global economy and modernized commercial fishing wreak havoc on their way of life. In the village, Brendan and Declan are wildly different and often wildly at odds; out on the sea, Ambrose worries about his children, but cannot afford to tear his attention from the brutal work that keeps his family afloat. As the world around them keeps changing, the mystery of one boy’s origins pulls them all toward a surprising, stormy fate.

Both outrageously funny and incredibly moving, The Boy from the Sea is a dazzling novel from a major new voice in Irish literature.