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The Amusements

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

In the resort town of Tramore, County Waterford, visitors arrive in waves with the tourist season, reliving the best days of their childhoods at the seaside amusements. Local teenager Helen Grant is indifferent to the charm of her surroundings; infatuated with her glamorous classmate Stella Swaine, she yearns to escape with her to art college, and from there, the world. But leaving Tramore is easier said than done. With an alcoholic father and an unsympathetic mother, Helen's family life may shatter her dream, just when it seems to be within reach....

Following the Grant and Swaine families and their neighbours over three decades, The Amusements is an unforgettable story about roads taken and not taken. It is a brilliantly observed portrait of life in a small town.

©2022 Aingeala Flannery (P)2022 Penguin Audio Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Small Town & Rural

Critic reviews

"THIS BOOK is EVERYTHING. The characters are painfully, beautifully real, the writing is IMPECCABLE...I LOVED it." (Marian Keyes)

"Unputdownable...one of the best novels of the year." (Sunday Independent)

"Flannery's flawed, hopeful characters live and grow on the page." (Anne Enright)
All stars
Most relevant
As a former small town Ireland resident, this story cut almost too close to the bone! It has at the same time both made me yearn for home and rejoice at my leaving it. It took me a moment to cotton on to the format (it's a bit like a Tarrantino out of sequence narrative) but when I did, I loved the idea and the picture being assembled. It's the most accurate description of Irish small town life I've read. Loved the performance too, very natural and real.

Beautifully and authentically Irish

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A mis match of a number of slightly interlinked stories
But no real plot .
What was that about ?
Was my feeling at the end .

No real plot

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A well narrated collection of overlapping stories from a small Irish town. Very raw, witty descriptions that help us connect and understand the many characters of Tramore. Really enjoyed this book.

Connect to the characters

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