‘A very funny novel. There’s a spiky levity to dialogue and narration alike, with liberal sprinklings of snark, gallows humour and word play.’ Financial Times
The Wild Laughter
Winner of the 2021 Encore Award
Description
An exhilarating dark comedy about two brothers confronting their father's fate in contemporary Ireland, from a critically acclaimed Irish author
'Propulsive, raucous, funny and deeply moving... I loved it.' David Nicholls, author of One Day
'Brilliant. A hilarious, poetical black comedy... Do read it.' Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
'A book of wicked intelligence and tender heart.' Max Porter, author of Shy
It's 2008, and the Celtic Tiger has left devastation in its wake. Brothers Hart and Cormac Black are waking up to a very different Ireland – one that widens the chasm between them and brings their beloved father to his knees. Facing a devastating choice that will put their livelihood, even their lives, on the line, the brothers soon learn that their biggest danger comes when there is nothing to lose.
A sharp snapshot of a family and a nation suddenly unmoored, this epic-in-miniature explores cowardice and sacrifice, faith rewarded and abandoned, the stories we tell ourselves and the ones we resist. Hilarious, poignant and utterly fresh, The Wild Laughter cements Caoilinn Hughes' position as one of Ireland's most audacious, nuanced and insightful young writers.
FINALIST FOR THE AN POST IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2020, THE RTÉ RADIO 1 LISTENERS' CHOICE AWARD 2020 & THE DALKEY EMERGING WRITER AWARD 2021
LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE & THE i COMEDY WOMEN IN PRINT PRIZE, 2021
AN IRISH TIMES, IRISH SUNDAY TIMES, IRISH INDEPENDENT & SUNDAY INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2020
Reviews
'The Wild Laughter is a propulsive, raucous, funny and deeply moving novel with a magnetic narrative voice. I loved it.' David Nicholls, author of One Day
'I loved this book. So funny and bleak. I loved the madness, the tone, the ending, the realisation, The Third Policeman charge of the whole thing.' Roddy Doyle, Booker Prize-winning author of The Commitments
'[A] riotous dark comedy…with much to relish in the crunchy vernacular and ribald humour… Hughes captures a feverish moment of country-wide crisis in a first-rate tale of family debt that isn’t only financial.' Daily Mail