A Son Called Gabriel
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 First edition cover |
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| Author | Damian McNicholl |
|---|---|
| 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 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 and there is a dark family secret involving his Uncle Brendan who is a priest in Kenya.
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 engages in a series of childhood sex games with Noel a young male friend. During adolescence, Gabriel is convinced by his cousin Connor to sexually experiment with him, learns he is attracted to his own sex, and tries to fight it by trying to make himself attracted to girls. At sixteen, he is also abused at school by a priest Father Cornelius.
The story ends with Brendan's revelation and Gabriel about to leave Ireland to go to University in England, and the reader has to draw his or her own conclusions about whether Gabriel will continue his relationship with Fiona – with whom he is in love but can't have a sexual relationship – or reconcile with his homosexual leanings.
