When The Boys Came Out To Play by John Mackel

I went to plenty of great sessions when I was in Belfast. One of the best was during Belfast Tradfest, out at The Hatfield with Bríd Harper, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, and Michael Rooney.

I ended up sitting next a lovely local fiddler named John. I saw him again the next day when I was at Ulster University for my workshop. He had a stand there, selling a new book of tunes that he had published. It’s called Pass It On. I couldn’t resist buying a copy. Then he mentioned that he also had a few copies of his brand new debut novel.

Now I was really intrigued. I told him to give me the elevator pitch and he said it was a semi-autobiographical work about growing up in Belfast druing The Troubles and finding solace in traditional Irish music.

There aren’t that many books about traditional Irish music, and certainly not many novels. “I’ll take one!” I said. He handed me a fresh copy of When The Boys Came Out To Play.

I started reading it when I got back to Brighton. To be honest, my expectations weren’t high. I shouldn’t expect too much from a self-published novel by a first-time author, right?

But I was completely captivated. I know it’s a cliché to talk about a book being un-put-downable, but I was seeking out opportunities during the day to crack it open again and read just one more chapter.

There’s nothing particularly clever about the prose, and that its strength. Some of the best writers understand how to let a story unfold through clear, direct writing. It sounds simple but it’s extremely hard to do it well.

This is a story told from a young boy’s point of view, and it genuinely feels like you’re seeing the world through his eyes. More than that, it feels like you’re right there experiencing events, some terrible and some transcendent.

This isn’t an epic story. It’s just the story of one child and his family. But I was completely invested in it.

Now look, just because I really like a book doesn’t mean that other people will. I always try to keep that in mind when I’m writing about any book I’ve read. But in this case, I really think John Mackel has written something excellent and I’d love for more people to discover it.

Do yourself a favour and get hold of When The Boys Came Out To Play. You won’t regret it.