The Boy from the Sea: the most heart-warming debut of 2025

An Observer Best Debut of 2025

An ordinary town. An extraordinary boy. The heart-warming, life-affirming debut story of a baby found on a beach and the fisherman who adopts him.

'Compassionate, lyrical and full of devilment' - Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses 'A joy . . . vivid, loving and genuinely funny' The Sunday Times

1973. In a close-knit community on Ireland’s west coast, a baby is found abandoned on the beach. Named Brendan by Ambrose Bonnar, the fisherman who adopts him, the boy will become a source of fascination and hope for a town caught in the storm of a rapidly changing world.

Ambrose, a man more comfortable at sea than on land, brings Brendan into his home out of love. But it is a decision that will fracture his family and force this man – more comfortable at sea than on land – to try to understand himself and those he cares for.

Set over twenty years, Garrett Carr’s The Boy From the Sea is a novel about a restless boy trying to find his place in the world. It is an exploration of the ties that make us and bind us, as a family and community move irresistibly into the future.

Readers love this gorgeous debut:

'Books are meant to change you, to shape you, and to heal you, and The Boy From the Sea does all those things' ***** 'You feel like you’re right there in the village' ***** 'Stunning. I found myself waking up at 5am because I was desperate to read more' ***** 'Felt like I was stepping off life's treadmill and immersing myself in another world' ***** 'Left me feeling warm and satisfied when I finished it and I’ve thought about it daily since then' *****

© 2025 Picador (Lydbog): 9781035044566

Release date

Lydbog: 6. februar 2025