Rural West Cork, Ireland. Two Kids, Joseph and Paul, and their struggling, poet father, Fraser, are battling grief and poverty. When a letter arrives with a summons to Dublin and the promise of publication, it offers a chink of light - the hope of rescue. But Dublin is a long, wet and hungry way from West Cork in the mid-70s, especially when they have no money - just the clothes they stand up in and an old, battered suitcase.

So begins an almost anti-roadtrip of flipsides and contradictions - dreams and nightmares, promises and disappointments, generosity and meanness, unconditional love and shocking neglect.

In simple, beautiful, lyrical prose, James Yorkston's new novel takes us on that trip, as seen through the eyes of a brave and resourceful but poor and frightened child. It tells of the emptying, paralysing pain of grief and loss, tempered only by the hope of rescue and the redemption of parental love. It also tells of Fraser's love for his children's dead mother, as hidden within the battered suitcase is Fraser's heart-breaking collection of poems - The Book of the Gaels.

About the Author
James Yorkston is a singer-songwriter and author from the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. Since signing to Domino Records in 2001, James has released a steady flow of highly acclaimed albums worldwide. James' debut novel 3 Craws (2016), has been studied in schools and colleges in the UK and America.

Reviews
Funny and touching, The Book of the Gaels is a good story, beautifully told -- Susan Flockhart * Herald *
Powerful... There are echoes of Douglas Stewart's Shuggie Bain... This slim, punchy book is extraordinarily powerful * Times (Historical Fiction Book of the Month) *
James Yorkston's new novel is a dark and desperate odyssey * Scotsman *
There's no denying that this is a novel in a minor key, and yet its rhythms and cadences are constantly evolving, drawing the reader closer. Listen out for it and you'll even hear a note that might be described as poetic * Observer *
Funny, affectionate... The acclaimed folk singer's jewel of a novel follows a penniless poet dragging his young sons across Ireland * Telegraph *



Book Information
ISBN 9780857305183
Author James Yorkston
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Oldcastle Books Ltd
Publisher Oldcastle Books Ltd