Set during the Celtic Tiger, this "fierce" novel "[strikes] at the
heart of what it has meant to be Irish in recent times"--from the
critically acclaimed author of The Spinning Heart (John Boyne, author
of The Heart's Invisible Furies).
"One of those beautiful, serious, fully living novels that will make
you laugh out loud"--for fans of slice-of-life Irish writers like Claire
Keegan and John McGahern (Guardian).
While the Celtic Tiger rages, and greed becomes the norm, Johnsey
Cunliffe desperately tries to hold on to the familiar, even as he loses
those who all his life have protected him from a harsh world. Following
the deaths first of his father and then his mother, Johnsey inherits the
family farm, and a healthy bank account, both of which he proves
incapable of managing on his own. Village bullies and scheming
land-grabbers stand in his way, no matter where he turns. Though
companionship, and the promise of love, enter his life as a result of a
hospital stay following a brutal beating, Johnsey remains a lonely man
struggling to keep up with a world that moves faster than he does.
Set over the course of one year of Johnsey Cunliffe's life, The Thing
About December breathes with Johnsey's bewilderment, humor and
agonizing self-doubt. Readers will fall in love with Johnsey in a
bittersweet tale that serves as a poignant reminder that we are
surrounded in life by simple souls who are nonetheless more insightful
and wise than we realize, or can even imagine.
