Montpelier Parade - Softcover

Karl Geary was born in Dublin, and moved to New York City at age sixteen. He cofounded two East Village institutions: the music venue Sin-é, and later the Scratcher. He has worked as a scriptwriter (Coney Island Baby) and an actor (Michael Almereyda’s Hamlet; Ken Loach’s Jimmy’s Hall), and has adapted and directed Dorothy Parker’s story “You Were Perfectly Fine” for the screen. He lives in Glasgow with his wife and daughter.

Praise for MONTPELIER PARADE

“Geary enters the literary arena with a bang: this debut about an unconventional love affair between a teenage boy and an older woman is unassuming but gorgeously rendered.” —Publishers Weekly, starred and boxed review

“A relentlessly downbeat but often poignant novel about flawed and despairing lovers testing―and transgressing―border walls of various kinds.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Fast paced and highly engrossing, Geary’s debut perfectly balances dreary romance with sharp teen angst.” —Booklist

“Montpelier Parade . . . presents us with the fraught experience of first love, told in beautifully doleful prose that sometimes exhibits Salinger-esque sparseness.” —Zyzzyva

“Luminous and moving. A story that asks who you can love and how, and a novel that gets to the heart of things; it certainly got to the heart of me.” —Sunjeev Sahota, Man Booker Prize shortlisted author of The Year of the Runaways

"A groundbreaking debut. Montpelier Parade is a taut, riveting, beautifully sparse coming of age tale from a fearless new talent." ― Téa Obreht, National Book Award Finalist & New York Times bestselling author of The Tiger's Wife

“Geary's first novel is brave and deeply affecting. Brave because he tells the story in the second person. (You have to get used to it but you do.) Affecting because of the superbly crafted characters. In 1980's Dublin, Sonny, an aimless, working-class teen falls for Vera, a posh, older English woman. Sonny's life at school and at home is little more than a sad pattern to be endured. Vera represents beauty and worldliness although she is utterly unknowable to him. Their slowly developing relationship is ultimately touching, heartbreaking and doomed.” —Stan Hynds, Book Buyer, Northshire Bookstore

“Few novelist debut with a masterpiece, but Geary has done just that. Stunning.” —Daily Mail

“Pitch-perfect.” —The Guardian

“Geary is the latest player in a recent resurgence of Irish literary talent, which also includes Jess Kidd (Himself) and Lisa McInerney (The Glorious Heresies). In Montpelier Parade, he delivers an unforgettable love story in writing that is often exceptional . . . Geary captures time and place startlingly well . . . Montpelier Parade is reminiscent of Barry Hines’ novel A Kestrel for a Knave — that 1960s classic of social realism — in its depiction of a youngster trapped by deprivation. But what is Geary’s, and Geary’s alone, is the desperately moving romantic entanglement at its heart.” — Financial Times (UK)

“Geary — who has previously worked as an actor and scriptwriter — is a genuine talent. The sense of intimacy created by the second-person narrative is brilliantly sustained and the dialogue throughout is pitch perfect, seeming almost audibly to slice the always pregnant, often suffocatingly toxic atmosphere.” —Daily Mail (UK)

“Geary's acute observations perfectly capture the essence of boyhood bewilderment and bravado . . . This is an unusually vivid novel that presents life how it is, rather than how Hollywood scriptwriters might like it to be.” —Press Association (UK)

“Intensely powerful.” —Sunday Mirror (UK)

“A class act, Montpelier Parade is an assured and moving debut from a writer confident in his voice and his unusual approach to storytelling.” —Sunday Business Post (UK)

“A bittersweet love story. . . . Geary’s depiction of his home town is so visceral you can almost feel the dreich air seeping into your bones as you read. . . . Geary’s acute observations perfectly capture the essence of boyhood bewilderment and bravado. . . . An unusually vivid novel that present life how it is.” —The Herald (UK)

“Luminous ... brilliantly paced, full of tension and tenderness.” —Irish Times

“The work of a deft, fearless writer ... evoking the subtly dark comedy of Patrick McCabe, and the delicious lyricism of Peter Murphy, Geary has a keen recollection of the folly and hunger of youth. Add in a gut-spinning plot twist, and it's safe to describe Montpelier Parade as one of the first significant releases of 2017.” —Irish Independent

“A class act...Montpelier Parade is an assured and moving debut from a writer confident in his voice and his unusual approach to storytelling.” — Sunday Business Post (Ireland)

“Beautiful and tender ... a wonderful read whose tender story will stay with you long after turning the last page.” — RTE (Ireland Public Radio)

“Captivating ... a luminous, moving story that is full of heart.” —Image Magazine

“I adored this unconventional love story. It’s tender, with luminous language, and should catapult the author to literary fame.” —Irish Examiner

“Intensely powerful.” —Irish Sunday Mirror