Leonard and Hungry Paul

CHAPTER ONE

Leonard was raised by his mother alone with cheerfully concealed difficulty, his father having died tragically during childbirth. Though she was not by nature the soldiering type, she taught him to look at life as a daisy chain of small events, each of which could be made manageable in its own way. She was a person for whom kindness was a very ordinary thing, who believed that the only acceptable excuse for not having a bird feeder in the back garden was that you had one in the front garden.

As sometimes happens with boys who prefer games to sports, Leonard had few friends but lots of ideas. His mother understood with intuitive good sense that children like Leonard just need someone to listen to them. They would set off to the shops discussing conger eels and have a deep conversation about Saturn s moons on the way back; they would talk about tidal waves at bath time, and say goodnight with a quick chat about the man with the longest fingernails in the Guinness Book of World Records. But Leonard grew up at a time when quiet, imaginative children did not yet enjoy the presumption of innocence. His mother often found herself having to take his side against ornery teachers who complained that they found it impossible to get through to him. With patient maternal endurance she would sit by herself at parent-teacher meetings explaining that, like his late father, he just lacked a Eureka face.

Even into his thirties, Leonard s mother still liked to fuss over him, buying his favourite ham for lunch the one with fewer veins running through it leaving tea by the bedside for when he woke up, and ironing well-meaning creases into his jeans, which Leonard would quietly iron out later. He repaid her thoughtfulness by keeping her company through her later years and generally including her in the uncrowded bandwidth of his life.

Leonard was not exactly sure, but there must have come a point when their relationship grew from a purely filial one

Ronan Hession is an Irish writer and musician based in Dublin. As Mumblin' Deaf Ro, he has released three albums of songs, and his most recent album, Dictionary Crimes, was nominated for the Choice Music Prize for album of the year. Leonard and Hungry Paul is his first novel, and was shortlisted for an Irish Book of the Year award.

Praise for Leonard and Hungry Paul

British Book Awards 2020 Debut Book of the Year Finalist

Irish Book Awards 2019 Newcomer of the Year Finalist

"The book is a delightful summer read because the characters are so incredibly likable... It's testament to the author's skill that this book, so lacking in the traditional trappings of drama, is somehow a total page turner." --Chloe Veltman, NPR Books

Radiant  A charming, luminous debut. Kirkus STARRED Review

This quietly brilliant book is as funny as it is wise, as tender as it is ground-breaking.  Rónán Hession mines for gold in the modest lives and ordinary friendships that might appear unpromising to another writer, and my goodness, he finds it. It is also a happy book and we need those. Diane Setterfield, author of The Thirteenth Tale

A charming, warm-hearted celebration of all that is treasurable about everyday life. The Guardian

Charming without being twee, this funny, warm book will bring you sunshine. The Irish Times

'God, what a voice Ronan has. It is spectacular and already feels like a cult classic. I was absolutely hooked.' Donal Ryan, The Spinning Heart

For a book that defies convention I would heartily recommend Leonard and Hungry Paul. It s as simple as it is unique a celebration of kindness and having enough and being content and living a life devoid of high drama and conflict. It s very funny, and well-written, poetic in places. But above all it s kind, a celebration of often overlooked people. Kit de Waal, author of My Name Is Leon

"This beautiful, heartfelt book is fed on wit and purpose . . . it challenges us to take happiness seriously. The result is that its readers may be nourished by it and in turn nourish others. Hession practices the gentleness he preaches, and gives readers a restorative glimpse of what a world based on embracing our best human quirks could look like. This is a novel to hearten us for whatever lies ahead." The Believer