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The Heart in Winter

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The Heart in Winter

By: Kevin Barry
Narrated by: Kevin Barry
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About this listen

 A GUARDIAN BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2024
A NEW STATESMAN FICTION HIGLIGHT OF 2024
AN OBSERVER FICTION TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2024
AN IRISH TIMES FICTION TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2024

What if we ride out tonight?
What if we ride out and never once look back?

October, 1891. Butte, Montana. A hard winter approaches across the Rocky Mountains. The city is rich on copper mines and rampant with vice and debauchery among a hard-living crowd of immigrant Irish workers.

Here we find Tom Rourke, a young poet and balladmaker, but also a doper, a drinker and a fearsome degenerate. Just as he feels his life is heading nowhere fast, Polly Gillespie arrives in town as the new bride of the devout mine captain Long Anthony Harrington.

A thunderbolt love affair takes spark between Tom and Polly and they strike out west on a stolen horse, moving through the badlands of Montana and Idaho. Briefly an idyll of wild romance perfects itself. But a posse of deranged Cornish gunsmen are soon in hot pursuit of the lovers, and closing in fast . . .©2024 Kevin Barry (P)2024 Canongate Books Genre Fiction Historical Fiction World Literature Heartfelt Witty Tear-jerking Montana

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Critic reviews

'Kevin Barry lights out for the territory and once again comes back with a shining nugget of gold. The Heart in Winter is a glorious and haunted yarn, with all the elements - the doomed lovers, the bounty hunters, the knife-fights and whisky-soaked songs - brought to mysterious life by the heft and polish of the Barry sentence. Marvellous.' (JON McGREGOR)

'A great big rollicking ballad of a novel. A love story, and a slice of history, in a language as close to song as literature will ever get.' (COLUM McCANN)

'A haunting, hypnotic love story of two damaged souls. Barry's talent is breath-taking - he is a true original and, once again, words obey his call. This is a propulsive read from a writer at the height of his powers.' (MARY COSTELLO)
All stars
Most relevant  
best thing since Bohane. all the blood, love and poetry you'd want. but this time out west.

another top shelf Barry

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Kevin Barry writes with a poets heart, an Irish poets heart. He seems to know the very soul of the Paddy at home and away from it, in the heart of the American wilds which he describes viscerally. It’s a pleasure to listen to the author himself reading.

You can take the man out of Ireland….

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Am I glad I bought this randomly as a deal of the day!

Absolutely loved everything about it - the poetic language, the perfect narration from the author and the heartfelt moving story.

Will definitely seek out more by this author!

LOVED it

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I love his books, his style is emotionally compelling, Like reading poetry, didn’t want the book to end. Must look for more!

Barry’s poetic style, the story and his voice reading it.

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Usually, I wouldn’t complain about a short book, but this seem to be too short as to say that besides the two main characters the rest of the characters did not seem to be developed and I did not get involved in them or feel them. also, the over descriptiveness of it seemed to be to the disadvantage of the story itself. Saying that I did reasonably enjoy the outing.

Undeveloped

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brilliantly read by the author, a vibrant tragi-comic western love story. the language sings throughout

a tour de force

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The very first chapter was difficult for me but once Tom emerged from his drunken, doped tatters I was hooked. A terrific story with so many twists and turns and the language always seductive. Kevin Barry's reading was superb.

Wonderful language to draw you into the world of Tom and Polly

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the voice of the narrator was so effective and true to the story line I was in the mountains forest with them.all the way so alive

excellent

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A road story in sweet Irish words. It is a long poem. The voice is magic.

Lovely poetic turn of phrase

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As usual with Kevin Barry, the delivery and the language and the story is fantastic.

Wonderful

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