The Weight of Him - Softcover

Rohan, Ethel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1786491907 ISBN 13: 9781786491909

Publisher: Atlantic Books, 2017

Synopsis

In The Weight of Him Billy Brennan undergoes an unforgettable journey in a startling attempt to resurrect his family and reignite hearts, his own most of all.At four hundred pounds, Billy can always count on food. From his earliest memories, he has loved food's colors, textures and tastes. The way flavors go off in his mouth. How food keeps his mind still and his bad feelings quiet. Food has always made everything better, until the day Billy's beloved son Michael takes his own life.Billy determines to make a difference in Michael's memory and undertakes a public weight-loss campaign, to raise money for suicide prevention--his first step in an ambitious plan to save himself, and to save others. However, Billy's dramatic crusade appalls his family, who want to simply try to go on, quietly, privately.Despite his crushing detractors, Billy gains welcome his community-at-large; a co-worker who lost his father to suicide; a filmmaker with his own dubious agenda; and a secret, miniature kingdom that Billy populates with the sub-quality dolls and soldiers he saves from disposal at the toy factory where he works. But it is only if Billy can confront the truth of the suffering and brokenness within and around him that he and others will be able to realize the recovery they need.Told against the picturesque yet haunting backdrop of rural, contemporary Ireland, The Weight of Him is a big-hearted novel about loss and reliance that moves from tragedy to recrimination to what can be achieved when we take the stand of our lives.An Amazon Best Book!"Ethel Rohan’s tender, generous and inspiring debut novel, “The Weight of Him,” deserves our full appreciation and absorption." - San Francisco Chronicle“First-time novelist Rohan shows impressive acuity in portraying the many facets of Billy’s and his family’s grief.” Booklist“This life-affirming view of grief is also an invitation, in spirit, to join in Billy’s redemptive quest toward carrying on with life. An inspiring tale.” Library Journal“In heart-rending passages, Ethel Rohan captures Big Billy Brennan’s grief and the courage it takes to change.” BBC Culture’s Ten Books You Should ReadMost Anticipated —The Millions, The Irish Times, & The Irish Independent14 Up & Coming Female Authors to Read This Year Bustle“Offers a window into a world most readers will never know.” Nota Bene Pick, World Literature Today“A thing of beauty.” Irish American News“Fantastic, painstakingly beautiful debut novel.” RT Book Reviews

About this title

About the Author

Ethel Rohan is the author of two story collections, Goodnight Nobody and Cut Through the Bone, the former longlisted for The Edge Hill Prize and the latter named a 2010 Notable Story Collection by The Story Prize. Winner of the 2013 Bryan MacMahon Short Story Award, and shortlisted for the CUIRT, Roberts, and Bristol Short Story Prizes, her work has or will appear in The New York Times, World Literature Today, PEN America, Tin House Online, The Irish Times, BREVITY Magazine, and The Rumpus, among many others. She has reviewed books for New York Journal of Books and elsewhere. Raised in Dublin, Ireland, Ethel lives in San Francisco where she is a member of The Writers' Grotto and PEN America.

Review

Ethel Rohan shows herself to be one of those rare, courageous writers who dare to take on the 'ordinary' and show just how extraordinary it really is. A brave and moving book. -- John Banville The Weight of Him conjures all the grief and regret of a family who has suffered an insurmountable loss. Out of this burning sorrow rises Big Billy Brennan, a father who attempts the seemingly impossible - to change the world. Ethel Rohan captures a blend of comedy and tragedy that is entirely true to family, hometown, and our own private struggles. Poignant and inspiring. -- Eowyn Ivey, international bestselling author of THE SNOW CHILD Ethel Rohan is a writer of great courage and emotional intelligence. She can also tell a damn good story. The Weight of Him is about loss and about life. It is involving, terrifying and ultimately quite beautiful. -- Tom Barbash, author of STAY UP WITH ME How can a story about death be so life affirming? Ethel Rohan's compassionate debut novel is sad, heartbreaking even, but also uplifting, a celebration of the determination to keep on trying. -- Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of MOTHERS, TELL YOUR DAUGHTERS The Weight of Him is an achingly sad, achingly lovely novel that speaks to the essential core of our shared human experience. I will not soon forget it. Ethel Rohan, a prodigiously skilled short story writer, has proved herself, in this debut novel, to be a master of the long form as well. -- Robert Olen Butler, author of PERFUME RIVER Sweet and profound, true and honest, The Weight of Him is a book to make the world a better place. -- Elisabeth Gifford

Edition details

• Publisher: Atlantic Books
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1786491907
• ISBN 13: 9781786491909
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352