There used to be a king on the island, who wore a brass crown. When he died in the previous decade, no one wanted to do it anymore. Most of the young men had been killed in the war, or were trying to get a job on the mainland. The ones left were too busy on the fishing boats. So it goes. According to my mother, the women were not asked.

O'Connor's debut is stunning. Her prose is gorgeous and the plot feels like a blanket on a frigid day. As the island slowly decays around Manod and her family, I felt the horror and heartbreak tingle up my spine. This book is for people who love prose and the coast, or feel like they're stuck in a world claiming to love them while simultaneously tearing them down. This book would not be a good choice for readers who love deep and twisting plots. Overall, I loved the musings on the rural fetish urbanites have while actively making rural life disappear. I could read a thousand books like this one - quick, easy, haunting, and compelling.

Found and purchased from Off the Beaten Path , a gorgeous indie bookstore in the rural mountains of Colorado.