The Fields

Kate Atkinson welcomes a first novel that's "a joy to read: fresh, funny, and always unexpected."

It's the first summer of lust for 14-year-old Jim Finnegan, a boy trying to become a man in 1980s Dublin. Jim's days are spent navigating his boisterous family, taking breakneck bike rides with his best friend, dancing to Foreigner on his boombox, and quietly coveting the local girls from afar.

Jim's teenage dreams come true when he wins the attention of a beautiful older girl-but he also becomes the target of a devious religious figure in the community. When Jim and his girlfriend take a clandestine trip by ferry to London, the dark and difficult repercussions of their journey force Jim to look for the solution to all his problems in some very unusual places.

THE FIELDS is an unforgettable portrait of a boy who sinks into troubles as he grows into a man, and the loving but fractured family that might be his downfall--or his salvation.