The Boy from the Sea

The Boy from the Sea
Published by Picador on 6th February 2025

As read on BBC Radio 4
A Sunday Times Best Book of the Year
An Observer Best Debut of the Year


The Boy from the Sea is Garrett Carr's brilliantly moving tale of an abandoned baby who rocks a small Irish town, bringing together a community - and igniting lifelong rivalries.

In 1973 on the west coast of Ireland, a baby is found abandoned on the beach. Who is he? Where is he from?

Ambrose, a local fisherman, is far more interested in who he will become and – with a curious community looking on – takes the baby home and adopts him. But for Declan, Ambrose's young son, this arrival is surely bad news. Rivalries can be decades in the making, and families are easy to break . . .