The Amusements

Reviews

Brilliant. Dramatic, heartfelt, sometimes shocking and sad Beautiful Like [William] Trevor, a wry wit permeates Flannery's storytelling Flannery's depiction of the sounds, smells and seediness of the typical seaside resort is sharp and vivid If you like dark humour, superbly drawn characters, caravan parks, fish suppers and slot machines, The Amusements is what you've been waiting for Impossibly compelling [Carries] notes of Donal Ryan and Roddy Doyle for me . . . A nostalgic masterpiece, loaded with possibility and weighed down with reality, guaranteed to be this summer's must-read Sharp as a vogue tomato slicer, it's seaside Ireland minus the dreary caravan mentality or sentimentality If you buy just one novel next month make sure to buy Aingeala Flannery's debut. Funny, sad and most of all beautifully written A compelling and satisfying read Brilliant A fascinating portrait of small-town life. A joy to read I loved it - so good Glorious The writing, so true to small-town life, is both shrewd and enlarging. Flannery writes like a grown-up; her flawed, hopeful characters live and grow on the page Its effortless evocations of the tides and pulls of small-town life are note perfect . . . It's often very funny, sometimes sad, always authentic and perceptive, and hugely entertaining. Beautiful [The setting of] Tramore is not only a character - it is the main character of The Amusements, with its quotidian dramas and failed epiphanies and the magnetic pull it has over everyone who encounters it, from those on a family holiday, to those who are born, bred and die there. It was a joy to read THIS BOOK is EVERYTHING. The characters are painfully, beautifully real, the writing is IMPECCABLE. Brutally honest about what we want for ourselves versus what we actually get, I LOVED it An amazing story The Amusements kept me up half the night. Aingeala Flannery is a brilliant writer. Her sentences crackle with life, energy and devastating insight into the human condition. She writes with a rare combination of compassion and black humour. Her characters live on in my mind like people I have always known A cracker of a book. Think Kevin Barry crossed with Elizabeth Strout. The writing is that good A fresh, funny, fiercely Irish novel about the vagaries of friendship, and Aingeala Flannery - wholly in charge of her lovable, eccentric cast - writes like a dream A vibrant, evocative debut that brings the exploits of an Irish coastal town brilliantly to life A deft collage of a novel. Ambitious and fun . . . a wonderful debut A brilliant book. I loved meeting all these characters, who jumped off the page and stayed in my head. Aingeala Flannery is a real talent A fantastic debut novel . . . it paints a vivid picture of this seaside town, we were gripped [Flannery] skilfully observes life in a small town and roads that are dreamed of but not taken. Characters that have a great sense of longing & yearning to leave this town behind, and yet somehow always get pulled back. A great read! Unputdownable . . . one of the best novels of the year Blackly funny Charming and empathetic . . . Flannery's immense skill lies in her ability to inhabit such a wide range of characters, stepping into their shoes and capturing the nuance of each voice, each set of hopes and dreams and private, devastating heartaches As addictive as slot machines and as exhilarating as waltzers. A great sense of place and compelling characters My book of the year . . . I loved every page Flannery excels at working that counterpoint of dark and light, comedy in the face of tragedy . . . A brilliant debut Quietly beautiful . . . Flannery's characters are very well drawn, as is her understanding of small-town mores and idle gossip. It's a book that leaves and impression long after the final page Expand reviews