Meanwhile, the ghost of Cauley’s jilted lover Johnny floats around the gardens of Rathmore House, to little purpose. Prologue May 1950: His first blow: the girl made no noise, her dark eyes widened. She reeled a little as she bent and put the baby down. The man stood waiting.

HIMSELF | Kirkus Reviews HIMSELF | Kirkus Reviews

Into this village comes Mahony, the boy we eventually learn whose teenage mother, Orla Sweeney, "mysteriously" disappeared. He is looking for her armed with an old photograph, searching for the girl who left him, finding himself not welcome in this town where he was born. He meets and resides with his landlady, Mrs Cauley, a wonderful character, who recruits Mahony to star in in her Christmas play. She teams up with Mahony to try an unravel the mystery of his missing mom and while investigating we meet the good and the bad in the village of Muldering. Interspersed in the story are also the dead of the village who add a kind of mystical charm to the story making you want to find this place and perhaps even dwell there even if only in your mind. The dead old woman opens a pair of briny eyes as round as vinegar eggs and looks at Mahony, and Mahony looks away, smiling full into Tadhg’s big face. “So are there any digs about the town, pal?” It was a surprisingly fast paced story and I had no clue until it was revealed who the murderer/father was. Kidd’s writing hits every note. She can take us in an instant from a vicious encounter to one that is tenderly funny. Even her use of the supernatural seems natural in this small Irish village, where most believe in the ability to see ghosts, even if they don’t have it themselves.

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I had a really tough time believing every female in the town of Mulderrig found Mahoney so irresistible. I got kind of tired hearing about how ridiculously good looking he was. I also am left with the smallest of hope that Kidd may one day gift us with a sequel. I don't want to say too much in fear of spoiling the story . . . but only one of the two central mysteries surrounding Mahoney is truly resolved. If you read very carefully and pay close attention to the ending, you will find that Kidd does not provide us with ALL the answers to our questions.

Himself | Book by Jess Kidd | Official Publisher Page | Simon

Jess Kidd writes good characters altogether. Mrs Cauley is just wonderful and practically drives the whole book. The ghosts are good too, Johnnie with his unfortunate antics, Ida the small girl who tries to help, Miss Mulhearne who gets Mahoney to read her poetry and many others. Having been abandoned on the steps of an orphanage as an infant, lovable car thief and Dublin charmer Mahony assumed all his life that his mother had simply given him up. But when he receives an anonymous note suggesting that foul play may have led to his mother's disappearance, he sees only one option: to return to the rural Irish village where he was born and find out what really happened twenty-six years ago. Mahony increases his smile to show his teeth in an expression of considerable natural charm altogether capable of beguiling the hardest bastard of humankind.” The narrative and writing alone are powerful enough to power this novel to the heights of one of the best debut’s I have read, but the magical realism element propels it to another stratum entirely. The ghosts, the ever-pervading presence of the forest, the little town which feels like a living, breathing, sentient being itself. Incredibly magical. Kidd utilizes the spectral cast of characters to add depth to the story and moments of comic relief. But the paranormal element also brings a certain creepiness along with it.I may be late to the party with this one, but this is my favourite read of the year, and will probably remain so. 5 Stars! I laughed out loud more than once. The relationship between Mahoney and Mrs. Cauley (“Mrs. Marple with balls”) was sweet. And I also loved Bridget. The characters, the writing, Irrespective of the fact that he constantly receives resistance from a village, which harbors secrets, lies and a killer, Mahony is more than determined to figure out what exactly happened to his mother. Mahony eventually finds himself protected and allied to a group of Irish women that no one would want to mess with. Mrs. Cauley is an exceedingly strong and frail elderly actress, who possess a magical library and insists on looking into Orla’s sudden death. She is a woman who is not afraid of shaking qualms to see what will fall out. Furthermore, she is also not afraid of the danger that lurks. Mahony’s landlord is Shauna, and she happens to fall in love with Mahony. She is more than determined to ensure that no harms fall in the way of Mahony. And his trousers are ridiculous: tight around the crotch and wide enough at the bottom to mop the main road.” Mahony is spellbound by it. As he is talking to her in her bedroom, there is a poignant scene with Mrs. Cauley’s old lover, Johnnie.

Himself by Jess Kidd | Waterstones

This, my fellow Goodreaders, is Neil Gaiman for adults; I adored it from its dark, intriguing beginning to its heart-racing finale.Mahony causes a tremendous stir in the village, with his brooding good looks, unshaven appearance, easy charm and – less palatably to its residents – relentless pursuit of the truth of what happened to his mother. The official story is that Orla, the local good-time girl, who grew up in a filthy hovel at the edge of the forest, left Mulderrig one afternoon in May 1950, and abandoned her child to the “care” of nuns. Yet as the novel opens with Orla’s brutal murder in the forest all those years ago, as witnessed by her infant son, it is evident that most of the village is, if not in cahoots with her killer, at the very least unwilling to uncover the past. Mahony increases his smile to show his teeth in an expression of considerable natural charm altogether capable of beguiling the hardest bastard of humankind. “Well, the last thing I need is work. I’m taking a break from the city.” Magical realism, humor, the paranormal all combine in this enchanting story. Mahoney has an unforeseen talent, like his mother before him, he can see and talk to ghosts, and his return stirs all the town's residents, living and dead. So much humor, I laughed continuously, smiled often. Mrs. Cauley owes a debt of gratitude to Jane Austen's Collected Works, War and Peace and a few other large tomes, after all books do save lives. There is one part of only a few paragraphs that is quite unsavory, concerning a dog and some violence because as I said there is a murderer about and he is bent at not having his secret uncovered.

Himself by Jess Kidd review – a dark and rollicking debut

From the moment he sets foot in Mulderrig, Mahony's presence turns the village upside down. His uncannily familiar face and outsider ways cause a stir among the locals, who receive him with a mixture of excitement (the women), curiosity (the men), and suspicion (the pious). Read “ Dirty Little Fishes,” Jess Kidd’s award–winning short story. Compare it with your experience of Himself. Are there commonalities in theme, character, or language? Do you notice how the author might have adapted her writing style to suit the short story form? Kidd mixes the darkest capacities of these villagers with carefully observed whimsy and fantasy. Readers who enjoy a dollop of whiskey in their tea will feel right at home in Mulderrig." - Booklist Set in the 1950’s and the 1970’s, Himself is a fairytale of folklore. It’s endearing, dark, beguiling, and utterly charming to no end. In truth, it is not the type of book I would normally read. Whimsy, fantastical is not my style - but I must say this: it pulls the reader in from the first sentence. You can’t tear your eyes away. The prose is absolutely flawless, beautiful even. The characters are lovely, comical & ensnaring. In short, this novel is not to be missed. Mulderrig is a place like no other. Here the colors are a little bit brighter and the sky is a little bit wider. Here the trees are as old as the mountains and a clear river runs into the sea. People are born to live and stay and die here. They don't want to go. Why would they when all the roads that lead to Mulderrig are downhill so that leaving is uphill all the way?"This is an ambitious and enjoyable debut by Jess Kidd. I applaud her for bringing her musical prose to the mystery genre and look forward to seeing what she writes next. So I really want to read Jess Kidd's latest novel, Things in Jars. Like, REALLY want to read it. But I don't have it. What do you think we should take away from Orla’s story? Had Orla been a man (i.e., Mahony’s father), how might the story have played out differently? For a very long time, I have yearned for an author like Jess Kidd to appear: the ghosts of Dylan Thomas, Gabriel García Márquez and James Joyce must surely have come to roost in her beautiful, mischievous mind.