This was a beautiful multigenerational story, although I struggled with the writing style/pacing. I loved reading about certain characters, but as soon as I’d get my teeth stuck into them, the chapter and POV would change. I think the writing style does give it a bit of uniqueness, however it just didn’t work for me. The overall story, albeit a bit slow, was still lovely to read.

Mouthing by Orla Mackey:

This is a novel presented in a first person narrative; with the residents of an Irish village telling their history. In this sense, it’s a disjointed narrative, with a flashback/flash forward structure, with names and events growing in significance as they become relevant.

In that sense, it’s a novel with literary ambition, with the minor nod to Larkin, the major nod the Dylan Thomas. It’s also a novel where the author has the economy of vision to tell the story in a short period of time (roughly 250 pages). However, the dizzying pace of the construction requires constant attention. Readers who can give it the space and study it requires will love it, others may find it unsatisfying and feel that that half the tale is not what they need. It’s published by Hamish Hamilton on May 30th and I thank them for a preview copy.

Set in the fictional rural village of Ballyrowan, “Mouthing” takes the form of short interviews or excerpts from the points of view of various characters living in the area, similar to an oral history. From the first of these excerpts, I was hooked.

Mackey’s prose is evocative and realistic in a way that immediately grips the reader. The characters feel real, and I could almost hear their voices through her writing.

The author has succeeded in not only creating well-developed characters, but an entire community, underpinned by an intricate web of relationships that weave through generations from the mid-twentieth century to the early 2000s. This web is uncovered gradually through the various insights and windows into the lives of individual families, friends, and neighbours over time.

The format of the book gives us the opportunity to see characters through each other’s eyes as well as their own, and to hear different sides of the same stories, often coloured by rumour or perspective. This creates a sense of uncertainty at times as the reader is left to wonder which characters are reliable narrators.

In the final section, we meet an older character who has lived in Ballyrowan throughout his life. He reminisces and shares his memories of many local characters, giving his own perspective of life in Ballyrowan over the years, and touching on several of the stories told throughout the book.

I’ll definitely be buying a physical copy of this book when it’s released, and look forward to reading more by Orla Mackey in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK/Hamish Hamilton for the advance copy of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own and this review will be shared on Goodreads, StoryGraph, and Threads the week of publication (27/05/24).

I liked the premise of Orla Mackey’s Mouthing. It put me in mind of Robert Seethaler’s The Field in which the dead remember their village, filled with all the gossip, machinations and scandalmongering you might expect from such a small community. Mackey’s debut tells the story of Ballygowan, tucked away in rural Ireland, over several generations beginning in the 1960s.
The characters tell their own stories in a vivid vernacular, much of it threaded through with an enjoyably dark humour. Each has their own distinct voice and Mackey’s not afraid to take risks – a man watches his wife from the grave, hoping for her happiness while a little girl, desperate for her mother’s love is left alone to fend for herself – both tricky narrative tricks to pull off but Mackey does it beautifully. Characters are not short of opinions about their fellow villagers, some sharp-tongued and judgemental, others more forgiving. They take a lively interest in the business of others but many have secrets of their own to protect and there are tragedies whose effects are far reaching. Jim Hickey’s final section neatly brings the preceding narratives together, fleshing out a few of the minor characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this cleverly constructed debut, written with a pleasingly acerbic wit and a sharp eye for human nature balanced with compassion. Looking forward to whatever Mackey comes up with next.

Nothing horrified me more than the idea of living in a small village where everyone knows everything about you... however, I quite like reading about it.
This is a great example, various characters, each with their own stories, woven in and out of each others lives.
There's usually a connection somewhere and another side to the same story.
It covers a lot of emotions for me.... a great read.