Maker Of Swans - Softcover

Paraic O'Donnell read English & French literature at University College Dublin and holds an M.Phil. in Linguistics from Trinity College, Dublin. He lives in Wicklow, Ireland with his wife and two children. The Maker of Swans is his first novel. http://paraicodonnell.com @paraicodonnell

Sonorous, beautifully made . . . disquieting and unfathomable * THE SPECTATOR * The Maker of Swans combines through-the-looking-glass enchantment with Nabokovian dexterity, and is also a sly and insightful commentary on the powers and weakness of artists. O'Donnell has written a mesmerizing book whose prose absolutely soars * Sandra Newman, author of THE COUNTRY OF ICE CREAM STAR * Exquisite * Liz Nugent, author of UNRAVELLING OLIVER * Dazzlingly inventive, compelling * Jane Casey * I devoured this book and it kept me guessing right to the very end . . . Line by line, Paraic's writing contains some of the most beautifully turned phrasing I've read in a long while * Laura Barnett, author of THE VERSIONS OF US * Compulsive reading . . . rich, strange, beautiful * Helen Macdonald, author of H IS FOR HAWK * An oddly beautiful tale of magic and art, this reminded me of Alain-Fournier's Le Grand Meaulnes -- Cathy Rentzenbrink * Editor's Choice, The Bookseller * A peculiar and beautiful tale of art and magic * STYLIST.CO.UK * A fabulously assured, elegant Gothic-flavoured tale * WOMAN AND HOME * Strange and beautiful - one of Stylist's Essential Reads for 2016 * STYLIST * Wonderfully dark, magical * ELLE * A powerful thriller * VOGUE * O'Donnell's eloquent descriptions and old-world characters make it a charming, lyrical read even when tension is high. I admired the depth of O'Donnell's imagination, which allowed him to conjure uo this enthralling tale . . . A literary feast * STYLIST * this book is like the swans Clara makes in her dreams, though it may assume a familiar shape, it remains very much its own thing, strange and new and captivating. * THE INDEPENDENT * Poetic and strange, this Gothic novel is a dark, elegant celebration of the power and beauty of words and the spells they weave. * SUNDAY EXPRESS * at its best, the prose in O'Donnell's first novel is glorious, combining an ear for deep cadences of language with a phenomenal acuity of vision. * THE GUARDIAN * it would not be surprising if the public clamours for a second instalment of this vividly imagined and deeply pleasurable gothic fantasy - not to mention a film. * FINANCIAL TIMES * This debut comes highly praised by Costa prize-winner Helen Macdonald . . . it is O'Donnell's arresting descriptions of the natural world that are likely to live longest in the mind * DAILY MAIL *