Way Out West
Way Out West
by Anthony Glavin
WAY OUT WEST is a gentle coming-of-age story that will enthral with its texture and world-building, the many delicately and affectionately observed characters and its subtle reflections on trauma, loss and a hope that somehow renews.
9781848409095 | paperback | 288pp | Publishing: 15th of March 2024
Fintan Doherty’s 1950s childhood in Glenbay, Donegal, is filled with two things: tales of America told by a plethora of ‘returned Yanks’ and the silent sadness after his mother’s death.
Soon as he becomes an adult, he leaves for the States – via Europe – and never stands still again. His journey way out west to Ohio and back up to Boston brings Fintan to an eclectic and diverse array of jobs, rented rooms, landscapes, acquaintances, friends and lovers, each one either confirming or confounding his idea of the land he now inhabits. His life as a new emigrant – a self ‘missing in motion’ – is underscored by his search for a painting of his mother by an American artist who once visited the home place long before Fintan was born.
Although we first met Fintan in Nighthawk Alley (1997), Way Out West stands alone as an enchanting coming-of-age story of texture and world-building, many affectionately observed characters and Glavin's subtle reflections on trauma, loss and a hope that somehow renews.
“‘WAY OUT WEST captures an intriguing odyssey by a young Irishman predestined to explore America. Superbly written, it vividly explores his homecoming to a land he previously never set foot in; a country in flux that he astutely observes, drifting through states whose placenames beguiled him in childhood.’”
“‘Anthony Glavin’s wonderful gifts as a humane and skilled storyteller are on display all through this compelling, moving and memorable novel.’”
“‘A delight of a novel, lyrical and delicate, that captures both the freewheeling 1970s and the shadows of grief and loss in the America of that decade. WAT OUT WEST is a deeply satisfying exploration of how a young man finally inhabits his own self.’ ”
