A few weeks ago in our free Book Club newsletter, I asked for examples of curious differences between U. Legs, meanwhile, has a flair for drawing, and although an exhibit of his work — arranged by an unscrupulous individual — never comes to fruition, we’re led to believe his talent might one day amount to something tangible. Karl Geary’s sophomore novel flirts with and then darkly subverts the marriage plot, killing off the nuclear family in an attempt to remake it, with a difference.

They are the oddballs, misfits and outcasts, and your heart goes out to both of them as we learn of their imperfections and vulnerabilities due to poverty and difficult (near impossible) home lives. It is hopeful and leaves you feeling that there are still good and kind people everywhere in this world. The writing is excellent, the characters Juno and Legs are lifelike, very original and wonderful and the story is oh so sad and harsh and sometimes funny.It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance. If you like British fiction of a high caliber, and something that might be a tad bit experimental, then you’re probably going to enjoy this work of art.

This story begins in a small Irish village where Juno and Legs live, where Juno’s father is a mostly useless alcoholic, and her mother is a seamstress who creates lovely gowns and more, but her clients rarely pay. Even though Geary started out as an actor, he is a born and gifted storyteller, and he's now giving Donal Ryan (who also provided a rave review) a run for his money as my favorite contemporary Irish author.Juno is a girl from a poor family in Dublin, growing up in the 1970s and coming of age in the 1980s, in a country that was very much under strict Catholic rule. I was astounded at the writing of this empathic character, of how he was created out of pure love, "even horrible people can have their hearts broken" (Geary 241). That all changes one day when Legs, struggling to come to terms with his homosexuality, is harassed by the parish priest because of his sexual inclinations.

Zij is slim, kwetsbaar, dapper, heeft een opvliegend karakter, bijt regelmatig van zich af en probeert het beste van haar leven te maken, hij is rustig, ingetogen en vindt moeilijk aansluiting.

And although I DO much prefer this UK cover - that looks suspiciously like American actress Kristy McNichol on the cover, circa 1980! It might be the storyline that tears at your emotions, or perhaps the idiosyncratic characters who capture your heart.

These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. It’s not that often that you read a story of such pure platonic love - incidentally, my two favourite books so far this year have been just that (this one and We All Want Impossible Things). When a reader directed me to Karl Geary’s new novel, “Juno Loves Legs,” I couldn’t resist delving beneath its cover(s). It’s a story that grabs you from the beginning and keeps you cheering for two kids trapped by circumstance yet determined to live the lives they desire.Geary often finds poetry in Juno’s plainspoken narration, whether in lucid reflections on the brutality at the school or in Juno’s openhearted wonder at Dublin . Set in Dublin during the 1980s, with eerie, dark landscapes of tawdry bars, alcoholics on the street, with poverty rampant everywhere, Juno is one of the pluckiest and most resilient narrators I’ve read in a while.