Where Are the Kings
By Donal Ryan.
By Donal Ryan.
How do you learn to grow up when the person who anchored your world is suddenly gone?
Where Are the Kings follows twelve-year-old Jack at the moment his childhood is irrevocably divided into before and after. Following the death of his mother, he is surrounded by his extended family in rural Ireland, each attempting in their own imperfect way to help him navigate a loss he is still far too young to understand.
Donal Ryan tells the story entirely through Jack's perspective, and I think this is where the book is at its most powerful. His voice captures that strange space between childhood and adolescence, where he is beginning to notice the complexities of the adults around him without yet having the experience to fully understand them. Grief exists alongside curiosity, embarrassment, desire, anger and all the other confusing emotions of growing up.
I particularly loved the portrayal of Jack's family. Nana's fierce love, Grandad's unpredictable temper, Haulie and Theo's ideas about masculinity, the difficult relationship with JJ and Jack's fascination with Aunt Rose all contribute to a family that feels wonderfully messy and real. They love each other, but that doesn't necessarily mean they understand one another.
There is also so much left unsaid within this family. Jack is surrounded by adults carrying their own histories and secrets, and we experience them only through what he notices and what he's able to comprehend. I loved that Ryan trusts the reader to recognise meanings that Jack himself might not yet see.
The writing is beautiful without losing the authenticity of a twelve-year-old narrator. There is an almost poetic quality to the way grief, memory and family are explored, but some of my favourite moments were the quieter ones. Jack's observations can be funny, painfully innocent or unexpectedly perceptive, often within the space of only a few pages.
I was also fascinated by the apparitions and dreamlike moments woven throughout. They introduce something slightly otherworldly without taking the story away from its emotional reality. Instead, they reflect the strange ways memory and grief can blur what is present, what has been lost and what we desperately wish could still be there.
Where Are the Kings is incredibly moving, but I never felt as though it was trying to manipulate me into feeling something. Its sadness comes from Jack himself, a boy attempting to make sense of death at precisely the same time he is trying to make sense of life.
Touching, poignant and beautifully observed, this is ultimately as much about becoming a person as it is about losing one. Jack's journey through grief, family and adolescence made this an incredibly special read for me.
A huge thank you to Milly and the wonderful team at Doubleday for including me in their review copy team!
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