Sharp-eyed and sharp-tongued, a multigenerational portrait of small-town life in Ireland from a refreshing new talent in literary fiction
'A bittersweet love letter to small-town Irish life over several generations, in the vein of Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge' Irish Times, 'Fiction to look out for in 2024'
Welcome to Ballyrowan.
This sleepy corner of rural Ireland may seem tranquil, but scratch the surface and you'll find a hotbed of gossip and intrigue - endless material for mouthing - and a town full of people only too happy to oblige in spreading the bad news.
Narrated by several generations of villagers, Mouthing traces the fortunes of one small community from the mid-20th century to the early 21st, in a series of highly confessional and darkly hilarious monologues. The good people of Ballyrowan delight in twisting the knife, in tormenting one another, in perfecting the art of schadenfreude. And, it becomes clear, none of them are entirely reliable witnesses.
As each character offers their version of 'the truth', upending our assumptions at every turn, we see how feuds are passed down through the generations, how families are estranged or reunited and fortunes made or lost, how strict social expectations can shift and loosen over decades (and how some things remain stubbornly unchanged). And we see how secret hopes and private sorrows, triumph and humiliation, pleasure and grief are all absorbed into the merciless chorus of mouthing.
Mouthing is an acerbic, unsentimental love letter to rural Irish life, where everyone knows everyone else's business and everyone has an opinion on it - where 'community' is both a lifeboat and a life sentence.



![Manchan, Magan IRISH INTEREST Magan Manchan: Listen to the Land Speak [2022] hardback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/manchan-magan-magan-manchan-listen-to-the-land-speak-2022-hardback-57197364117843_{width}x.jpg?v=1743077146)
![Lynch, Paul IRISH FICTION Paul Lynch: Prophet Song [2023] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/lynch-paul-paul-lynch-prophet-song-2023-paperback-57686922002771_{width}x.jpg?v=1732016939)
![Mulqueen Ciaran BARGAIN IRISH POLITICS Ciarán Mulqueen: How to Buy a Home in Ireland: A Guide to Navigating the Irish Property Market [2023] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/mulqueen-ciaran-ciaran-mulqueen-how-to-buy-a-home-in-ireland-a-guide-to-navigating-the-irish-property-market-2023-paperback-57818454982995_{width}x.jpg?v=1736853573)
![Keegan, Claire IRISH FICTION Claire Keegan: Small Things Like These: Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2022 [2022] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/keegan-claire-claire-keegan-small-things-like-these-shortlisted-for-the-booker-prize-2022-2022-paperback-59373419102547_{width}x.jpg?v=1758902529)
![Fallon, Donal & Flanagan, Frank BARGAIN DUBLIN INTEREST James Flanagan: The Lamplighters of the Phoenix Park [2023] hardback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/fallon-donal-flanagan-frank-james-flanagan-the-lamplighters-of-the-phoenix-park-2023-hardback-58346832265555_{width}x.jpg?v=1727218215)