One Island Summer Tests Football, Shame and First Love
John Patrick McHugh captures a charged island summer where football, shame and first love press hard on a teenager’s choices. The story feels close to the skin, giving readers a coming-of-age novel shaped by local pressure, desire and awkward courage.
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Fun and Games
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One Island Summer Tests Football, Shame and First Love
John Patrick McHugh captures a charged island summer where football, shame and first love press hard on a teenager’s choices. The story feels close to the skin, giving readers a coming-of-age novel shaped by local pressure, desire and awkward courage.
- Book Synopsis
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INSTANT TOP 10 IRISH BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR IRISH BOOK AWARDS NOVEL OF THE YEARAN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST'A triumph … the funniest novel I've read in years' SALLY ROONEY'A brilliant and bittersweet ode to young love' IRISH TIMES'One of my favourite books of the year' JULIA ARMFIELD'A funny and frank coming-of age-drama'OBSERVERJohn Masterson has no idea what he wants.It's his last summer on the small island where he has grown up. He should be enjoying the weeks until his exam results come through, but instead he's desperately trying to keep his head down after his mother's nude sext to another man was leaked to the whole island. He's doing his best to distract himself with his Gaelic football ambitions, going out with his mates and a blossoming, sort-of, romance with his slightly older co-worker Amber.But soon John must face up to the choices before him: to stand out or fit in and whether to love and let himself be loved, despite, or perhaps because of, the flaws that make us all human.A book of the year in Observer, Irish Times, iPaper, Vogue, Esquire and more'Welcome to the psyche of a teenage boy in all its humorous and hormonal glory' TELEGRAPHAs evocative as it is funny. Think: the male version of Sally Rooney'VOGUE'Gorgeous … a writer of immense talent' MICHAEL MAGEE'I'm not sure I've read a funnier book, or one I've enjoyed more' DAILY MAIL'Bighearted and boisterous, bursting with life' COLIN WALSH, author of Kala'Funny and heartbreaking' FERDIA LENNON, author of Glorious Exploits'A gifted writer' ANNE GRIFFIN, author of The Island of LongingJohn Patrick McHugh's 'Fun and Games' was an Irish top ten bestseller w/c 2025-04-28.
Ideal for readers who:
- Enjoy sharp Irish coming-of-age fiction centred around local football, first love and small-town shame.
- Want to spend one unforgettable island summer navigating John Masterson’s difficult choices and awkward desires.
- Are drawn to brilliant portrayals of rural communities, modern masculinity and youth, captured with a comic bite.
- Appreciate bittersweet novels that manage to be simultaneously hilarious, exceptionally frank and emotionally precise.
- About The Author
- John Patrick McHugh is from Galway. His work has appeared in Banshee, Granta, Stinging Fly, Tangerine and Winter Papers. Pure Gold is his debut collection.
- Product Details
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- ISBN
- 9780008517373
- Format
- Paperback
- Publisher
- 4th Estate, (07 May 2026)
- Number of Pages
- 400
- Weight
- 270 grams
- Language
- English
- Dimensions
- 198 x 129 x 28 mm
- Categories: