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By Jamie O'Neill
It's 1915, and the Irish revolution against the British is about to boil over.
But that's not what Jim and Doyler, two Teen boys, are worried about. See, they've struck a deal. Doyler will teach Jim to swim, and on Easter day 1916, they'll swim across the bay together to claim a small rocky island all for their own.
As their time and swims together progress, Jim and Doyler fall in love. And as they get closer to their deadline, a bigger conflict threatens: what came to be known in history as "The Easter Uprising."
This book has a great backstory: The author "Irishman Jamie O'Neill was working as a London hospital porter when his 10-year labor of love, the 200,000-word manuscript of At Swim, Two Boys, written on a laptop during quiet patches at work, was suddenly snapped up for a hefty six-figure advance. For once, the book fully deserves the hype."
Add your review of "At Swim, Two Boys" in comments!
5 comments:
A beautiful stunning book and I enjoy it more every time I reread it. Highly recommend!
[By the way, I love your blog and it's been an invaluable tool for my work in grad school.]
Thanks Tonnya, for the review and the kind words!
Namaste,
Lee
Wow! The backstory sounds as good as the premise of the book!
Until your blog, I had no idea of the availability of gay literature. I'm glad it's becoming more prolific, and that LGBT teens have books to identify with, and to prove they're not alone.
This one has been on my reading list for a while - I'm going to move it up my list!
I read At Swim, Two Boys when it was first published, and it still stands as one of my favorite novels. I don't usually like character-driven fiction, but this book is one of my exceptions.
The funny thing is, I wouldn't have thought of it as YA until I read your review. I think of it as an adult novel, even though the protagonist is a teenager.
Thanks for your review!
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