Welcome to Ballyrowan. This sleepy corner of Ireland may seem tranquil but scratch the surface and you'll find a hotbed of gossip and intrigue - endless material for mouthing - and a town full of people only too happy to oblige in spreading the bad news.

Narrated by several generations of villagers, Mouthing traces the misadventures of one small community from the mid-20th century to the early 21st in a series of highly confessional, darkly humorous, sharply observed monologues. These are people who delight in twisting the knife, perfecting the art of schadenfreude over many decades. And, it becomes clear, none of them are entirely reliable witnesses. As each one tells their version of events, revealing contradictory versions of 'the truth', we see how feuds are passed down through the generations, how families are estranged or reunited and fortunes made or lost, how strict social expectations can shift and loosen over time (and how some things remain stubbornly unchanged).

Mouthing is an acerbic, unsentimental love letter to rural Ireland, where everyone knows everyone else's business and everyone has an opinion on it - where 'community' is both a lifeboat and a life sentence.

About the Author
Orla Mackey is a writer and teacher based in Kilkenny in Ireland. She studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin. Mouthing is her first novel.

Reviews
Engrossing, acerbic and brilliant. Everyone here has a tale to tell... There is a pub and there is a priest. There are secrets and lies. It is by turns funny, horrifying, and all too real... Mackey's structure requires the reader to constantly reassess their opinions of the characters. It is a fascinating magic trick, shimmering with fractal richness... Again and again we meet a character, form an opinion, and almost immediately have that wittily torpedoed * The Irish Times *
A compelling and highly entertaining read; it is a brilliant debut . . . The more people you get to know, the more compelling the novel becomes . . . The interlinked stories are like an addictive soap opera, and you never want them to end . . . Mackey observes the small community with affection and writes about them with real insight and a finely honed wit * Irish Examiner *
A bittersweet love letter to small-town Irish life over several generations, a polyvocal mosaic in the vein of Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge * Irish Times, 'Everything Books in 2024' *
A hotbed of gossip and intrigue, the novel is narrated in a dark, humorous and confessional style by several generations of villagers, from the mid-20th century to the early 21st . . . Anyone with experience of a small town will be drawn to this * Journal.ie *
A startling debut . . . The world Mackey pitches her readers into is hilarious, heartbreaking and oh-so-familiar to anyone who grew up in a small community. No character is straightforward here and each voices their story in a unique and compelling way * Irish Times, 'The best books of 2024 so far' *
Intimate and panoramic, a raucous gathering of voices: full of humour, pierced with longing, caught between connection and claustrophobia. Compassionate but clear-eyed, angry and elegiac, Mouthing is a portrait of our confused and often destructive yearning for grace -- Colin Walsh, author of 'Kala'
Orla Mackey writes with tenderness, honesty and caustic wit. Mouthing is full of characters who'll simultaneously make your blood boil and break your heart into little bits. A novel for everyone who's ever wondered what the neighbours are really up to behind closed doors . . . -- Jan Carson, author of 'The Raptures'
Sharp-eyed and sharp-tongued, a biting, unsentimental love letter to rural Irish life * Image *
All human life is here . . . Mackey's book is told in the richly descriptive language of the local people, and calls to mind writers like Donal Ryan and Anne Griffin * Irish Times, 'Arts & Ideas' *
A hugely accomplished, sophisticated debut, wildly original and distinct: a startling chorus of vivid, hungry characters battling for love, status and meaning in a small Irish town where not much of anything is to be found. Mackey's characters possess a devastating, squint-eyed wit but also a capacity for moments of great, unexpected tenderness. No one is ever as alone as they might think. I cannot wait to read what Orla Mackey does next! -- Lauren Mackenzie, author of 'The Couples'
Mouthing is full of disgrace, inherited trauma and family secrets that spill all over the back roads of Ossory. A book of testimonies and intertwined destinies that will make you laugh, because if you didn't you'd surely cry -- Aingeala Flannery, author of 'The Amusements'
Terrifically sharp-witted and deeply moving, Orla Mackey's novel crackles with intelligence and life. Reading these pages I had the feeling, time and again, of stepping into a moving current -- Chetna Maroo, author of 'Western Lane'
A wonderful novel full of memorable characters and charming voices. I was absorbed, amused and moved by Orla Mackey's masterful depiction of so-called ordinary life in all its richness and complexity -- Ben Hinshaw, author of 'Exactly What You Mean'
Orla Mackey's much-anticipated debut novel, a chorus of voices staking their claim for the truth of their times and what goes on in the rural outpost of Ballyrowan from the 1960s to the Noughties * RTE Guide *



Book Information
ISBN 9780241997987
Author Orla Mackey
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 200g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 15mm