A Son Called Gabriel
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| First edition cover | |
| Author | Damian McNicholl |
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| Country | Eire |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | CDS Books |
| Released | June 2004 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 343 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 1-59315-018-0 (first edition, hardback) |
A Son Called Gabriel is a 2004 novel by Irish author Damian McNicholl
Set in Northern Ireland in the sixties and seventies, this novel describes the coming-of-age and sexual awakening of Gabriel Harkin. Gabriel, a working class Catholic boy, writes in the first person and talks about his life from the age of six to sixteen.
Gabriel’s story is set against the backdrop of the Troubles and the religious bigotry of the Province.
[edit] Plot summary
As he grows up, the pubescent Gabriel starts to suspect that he is not like other boys, and enjoys a series of childhood sex games with Noel a young male friend. During adolescence, Gabriel has a long term relationship with his cousin Connor and is also abused at school by a paedophile priest Father Cornelius.
The story ends with Gabriel about to go to University in England, and the reader has to draw his or her own conclusions about whether Gabriel will marry Fiona – with whom he has had a long platonic relationship – or allow his homosexual leanings to dominate.
