Himself

A charming ne'er-do-well returns to his haunted Irish hometown to uncover the truth about his mother in this "supernaturally skilled debut" (Vanity Fair) and turns the town--and his life--upside down.

Having been abandoned at an orphanage as a baby, Mahony assumed all his life that his mother wanted nothing to do with him. That is, until one night in 1976 while drinking a pint at a Dublin pub, he receives an anonymous note implying that she may have been forced to give him up. Determined to find out what really happened, Mahony embarks on a pilgrimage back to his hometown, the rural village of Mulderrig. Neither he nor Mulderrig can possibly prepare for what's in store...

From the moment he arrives, Mahony's presence completely changes the village. Women fall all over themselves. The real and the fantastic are blurred. Chatty ghosts rise from their graves with secrets to tell, and local preacher Father Quinn will do anything to get rid of the slippery young man who is threatening the moral purity of his parish.

A spectacular new addition to the grand Irish storytelling tradition, Himself "is a darkly comic tale of murder, intrigue, haunting and illegitimacy...wickedly funny" (Daily Express).

“"This striking literary debut is a darkly comic tale of murder, intrigue, haunting and illegitimacy . . . wickedly funny."”

"Himself is a classic, feeding the reader through a multisensory smorgasbord of Irish euphemisms...The snappy dialogue in Himself is delightful and a strong asset to Kidd's flawless storytelling. The story breathes metaphors into sweet descriptive prose, pulling at heartstrings and bursting with humor...Foul play, fantasy, and a glimmer of romance wrapped up in a suspense-filled ending, makes Himself a delicious, gratifying and ageless story."-- "New York Journal of Books"
"Himself is Jess Kidd's confident, engaging debut novel. It has a captivating ensemble cast, great jolts of humor and danger, hair-raising plot twists and just enough darkness to make the magic feel true. A thoroughly enjoyable read."-- "Minneapolis Star Tribune"
"[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"
"Every page of Kidd's who-done-it novel is filled with magic, spirit, peppery characters, and ghosts of the village dead, including their pets, who are visible only to some...Kidd mixes the darkest capacities of these villagers with carefully observed whimsy and fantasy. Readers who enjoy a dollop of whiskey in their tea will feel right at home in Mulderrig."

-- "Booklist"

"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"
"Mysterious and lyrical... Moving between Mahony's present and the village's past, Himself is spun like a fairy tale and paced like a mystery told around a slowly fading campfire. Kidd is brilliant at setting the scene and painting it vividly with a twisted, comic voice... In Himself, the author revels in the magical and supernatural, deftly and often humorously melding superstition and folklore with real personal tragedy."-- "BookPage"
"Over in Dublin, Jess Kidd's Himself is her supernaturally skillful debut. Irish eyes are glowing."-- "Vanity Fair"

Jess Kidd is the award-winning author of Murder at Gulls Nest, The Night Ship, Himself, Mr. Flood's Last Resort, and Things in Jars. Learn more at JessKidd.com.

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