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WORK TITLE: Himself
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1973
WEBSITE: http://jesskidd.com/
CITY: London, England
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: British
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/himself-review-he-sees-dead-people-in-mayo-1.2832756 * https://www.essentialsurrey.co.uk/celebrity-interview/jess-kid-interview-himself-rosanna-greenstreet/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1973, in Richmond, England.
EDUCATION:Richmond College; Open University, B.A.; St. Mary’s University in Twickenham, M.A., 2008; Ph.D.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Has worked previously as a care worker, a teacher of creative writing for Kingston Adult Education, and as PA to the rector of All Saints in Kingston.
AWARDS:Costa Short Story Award, 2016.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Jess Kidd is a London-based writer. Kidd grew up in Richmond, England. Her mother is Irish, and Kidd visited Ireland frequently throughout her childhood. She attended college at Richmond College, where she studied English literature and Irish studies. Kidd dropped out of Richmond after her first year to care for her prematurely born baby. She finished her degree through Open University over the course of seven years. Kidd received her masters degree in creative writing in the community at St. Mary’s University in Twickenham in 2008. She then went on to get her Ph.D in creative writing from St. Mary’s. Her dissertation examined the ways in which various genres can be brought together to create new forms of crime fiction. Kidd lives in London, England, with her daughter.
Kidd began working on her debut novel while she was studying creative writing at St. Mary’s. Himself tells the story of Mahoney, a twenty-six year old man living in Dublin in 1976. When Mahoney discovers that the story of his childhood, that he had been left on the steps of an orphanage as a baby, might not be true, he travels to the place of his birth to investigate his origins.
In small town Mulderrig, Mahoney discovers that his birth mother, Orla, had supernatural powers, a fact that the townspeople found unsettling. The reader learns that Mahoney has inherited his mother’s unusual abilities, as he is able to speak with the dead. Mahoney uncovers that his mother was murdered, though it is unclear what the motives of the murderer were, or why baby Mahoney was spared.
Mahoney meets three women who want to help him find out the truth about his mother’s death. Mrs. Cauley, an older actress who also had mystical powers; Shauna, a woman attracted to Mahoney; and Bridget, one of Orla’s old friends, join him in his investigations.
As the troupe attempts to uncover the story of Orla’s death, they uncover secrets of Mulderrig that some townspeople would prefer stay secret. The town itself has some supernatural traits, as do some of the individuals that inhabit it. Some of the eclectic characters that fill the book include ghosts of townspeople past, as well as their pets.
As Mahoney learns about his mother, he comes to better understand himself. A contributor to Publishers Weekly wrote: “Kidd injects ample doses of macabre humor and lyrical description in this memorable story from a strange, bold new voice.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, February 1, 2017, Emily Dziuban, review of Himself, p. 19.
Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2017, review of Himself.
Publishers Weekly, January 30, 2017, review of Himself, p. 170.
ONLINE
Irish Times Online, https://www.irishtimes.com (October 22, 2016), Sarah Gilmartin, review of Himself.*
Jess Kidd talks about her debut novel 'Himself'
by Rosanna Greenstreet
20 October 2016 16:02
RSS Print
Local writer Jess Kidd is receiving acclaim for her first novel. Rosanna Greenstreet reports on her long journey to becoming a published author
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Success has been a long time coming to local author Jess Kidd. Now, aged 43, she has finally seen her debut novel published. Praised by The Guardian, her fiction has been endorsed by bestselling author Louis de Bernières and even optioned for the screen. She has been written about in Elle and Vogue and the latest news is that Sunday Times Style Magazine has come calling.
“It’s ironic, as my natural state is shuffling about in a dressing gown and I have spent the last year writing in my pyjamas,” Jess laughs, as we chat over a cuppa in my kitchen.
I have known this small, determined woman – dressed today in jeans, jacket and an enviable pair of blue suede boots – for eight years. We both took the inaugural Creative Writing in the Community MA at St Mary’s University in Twickenham in 2008 and, back then, she was the undisputed class star.
She continued at the university, taking a PHD in Creative Writing Studies and producing Himself, the story of an abandoned son searching for his mother in a small Irish town full of secrets and lies. An agent and book deal with the publisher Canongate followed. For Jess, who has spent her whole adult life writing and studying, Himself is just the beginning, as she reveals that she has written two more novels.
“Canongate is publishing the second, Hoarder, next year. It’s a contemporary crime novel set in Petersham. My third is set in Victorian London and has an extravagant cast of characters. I have also started a collection of short stories and I want to do a play.”
Born in Richmond, Jess is part of a large family from Mayo and her Irish roots, which show in her dark hair and big brown eyes, have always loomed large.
“My mum is one of 11 and she moved to England because her sisters were here. I was brought up in London but we were always visiting Ireland. I never wanted to come back to London so I would frequently run away. I have spent my life wanting to live in Ireland and I am hoping to make the move next year.”
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Ardmore, Ireland
For now, home is Ham. Jess, who was at Orleans School in St Margarets and went on to Richmond College, is a single parent to her daughter Eva, who is a student. Jess fell pregnant with Eva during her first year of university (she was studying English Literature and Irish Studies), and had to drop out after she was born prematurely at seven months.
She says, “I continued my degree with the Open University; it took me seven years. I also had to work but I picked jobs that could support writing and studying. I have done all manner of things: a care worker specialising in brain injury, a teacher of creative writing for Kingston Adult Education and as PA to the rector of All Saints in Kingston.”
During Jess’s PHD years, I was privileged to read an early version of Himself. Then the book was called Mulderrig, the name of the imagined west coast town of the story. The book shifts between two time periods and you don’t doubt the authenticity of the Irish voices on every page. Jess’s influences include Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood and the Irish playwright,
J M Synge’s portrayal of rural society in The Playboy of the Western World.
“My father had the Richard Burton recording of Under Milk Wood and I remember hearing this amazing lyrical book. I wanted to do something similar and thought it would be great to have an Irish version of Llareggub. There are tributes to Under Milk Wood in my book – boats bobbing on the bay and a dream sequence.
There are parallels with The Playboy of the Western World because my central character, Mahony, like Christy Mahon in Playboy, is a stranger who comes to town; I too have a widow and, like the town in Playboy, Mulderrig is a place of violence,” she explains.
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Himself is a tricky book to categorise; it is a crime novel and it contains magic realism – the chief protagonist sees dead people. This hasn’t fazed Andy Serkis though, whose production company, Imaginarium, has been quick to snap up film and TV rights. As I read Himself, I pictured the hero as Colin Farrell, but Jess has other ideas.
“It’s got to be Mr Poldark – that’s the reason I wrote it!” she laughs, adding, “I dream of Julie Walters playing the widow, Mrs Cauley.
Although Jess is aware of the phwoar value of Aidan Turner, she does not actually own a television.
“I haven’t had a telly for two years – or any furniture. When I split from my last partner, he took his furniture and I never replaced it because I am always trying to move to Ireland. It’s a bit eccentric – if you come to my house you have to sit on the floor,” she says, adding. “I have two desks though. I start [to write] early, about five or six. On a good day I won’t stop, but there are days when I get sidelined by Twitter or buying shoes – or looking at houses in Ireland!”
I am so pleased for my brilliant friend. She has worked hard for so long and, at last, her talent is recognised. I wonder how she will take to fame.
“You know me,” she smiles, “I’ll be hiding in Cork or Galway or wherever, in my dressing gown.”
Jess loves tea, bees, all varieties of dogs, George Saunders, writing ghosts, flurries of post-it notes on walls and smiling at strangers (in moderation).
Jess is the winner of the 2016 Costa Short Story Award.
About
About
Jess completed her first degree in Literature with The Open University after leaving college to have her daughter. She continued to work and study part-time, finally gaining a PhD in the field of creative writing studies. Jess’s dissertation focused on the ways in which disparate modes and genres can be brought into correspondence to create new hybrid forms in crime fiction. Her research covered several key crime fiction and magical realist texts, along with the work of John Millington Synge and Dylan Thomas. Jess has taught creative writing at undergraduate level and to adult learners. She has also worked as a support worker specialising in acquired brain injury, a PA to a Rector, and an administrator at a local community centre.
Jess was brought up in London as part of a large family from Mayo, and plans to settle somewhere along the west coast of Ireland in the next few years. Until then, she lives in London with her daughter.
Jess is now finishing her second and third novels, planning her fourth, and working on her first collection of short stories – many of which are either set in Ireland or have Irish protagonists. HIMSELF is Jess’s first novel.
Kidd, Jess: HIMSELF
Kirkus Reviews.
(Jan. 1, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Kidd, Jess HIMSELF Atria (Adult Fiction) $26.00 3, 21 ISBN: 978-1-5011-4517-9
Lovable car thief and Dublin charmer Mahony had always been told he was left on the steps of an orphanage as a baby.
But a deathbed confession reveals that there might be more to the story.Debut novelist Kidd paints a darkly magical
tale of a man who revisits his birthplace of Mulderrig, a small coastal town in Ireland, to investigate the mysterious
circumstances of his mother's death 26 years earlier. Mahony's mother, Orla, was a ragtag single mum with
supernatural powers that townspeople found unsettling. But was that cause for her to be murdered? Or was there more
to it? And what forces were at work when Mahony was spared the same fate as his mother the night she disappeared in
the woods? Joining Mahony on his quest for answers are three women who add even more color to this richly drawn
mystery about a town with more than its share of secrets. There's Mrs. Cauley, a feisty elderly actress with mystical
powers of her own. Shauna is one of Mahony's many female admirers. And Orla's old friend Bridget joins the
investigative team. When Mrs. Cauley stages a play with Mahony as the lead, she hopes it will lead to answers but
instead unleashes a hell storm upon Mulderrig. The Irish hero finally gets the answers he has been searching for but not
in the way he expects. Told in a unique voice with complex characters, the paranormal mystery will keep readers
guessing whodunit until the very end--all while falling in love with the quirky cast. A darkly comic tale that is skillfully
and lyrically told.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Kidd, Jess: HIMSELF." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Jan. 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA475357396&it=r&asid=5df829c69877382ab91b349bb4e044cc.
Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A475357396
10/8/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1507504703640 2/3
Himself
Publishers Weekly.
264.5 (Jan. 30, 2017): p170.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* Himself
Jess Kidd. Atria, $26 (384p) ISBN 978-1-50114517-9
In her exceptional debut novel, Kidd explores the dark corners of the human mind in small-town 1970s Ireland,
creating a haunting story that moves between the supernatural and the mundane. A murder mystery on the surface, the
story digs past the traditional whodunit structure to paint a rich portrait of village life. Mahony, a charming young man
who can communicate with the dead, returns to Mulderrig, Ireland, his birthplace, in search of the truth about his
mother's mysterious disappearance. As he dredges up the town's Best-kept secrets, the line between past and present
blurs, ghosts of the departed shadowing the footsteps of those still living. Mahony's quest is, at its core, a journey of
self-discovery, yet his presence, much like his mother's, creates a ripple that churns into a tempest, ultimately
threatening the stability of the town as a whole. The lavishly populated cast of characters boasts unique quirks, hidden
motivations, and a dangerous instinct for self-preservation. In Mulderrig, Mahony learns, all is not as it seems; the
departed prove to be the least of his worries. While the plot hurtles along at a rapid pace, leading inexorably to the
heart-pounding final conflict, Kidd injects ample doses of macabre humor and lyrical description in this memorable
story from a strange, bold new voice. (Mar.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Himself." Publishers Weekly, 30 Jan. 2017, p. 170. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA480195138&it=r&asid=1f82c0298b48fca7062cf8438103b958.
Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A480195138
10/8/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1507504703640 3/3
Himself
Emily Dziuban
Booklist.
113.11 (Feb. 1, 2017): p19.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Himself.
By Jess Kidd.
Mar. 2017. 384p. Atria, $26 (9781501145179).
In 1976, handsome, charismatic Mahony returns to Mulderrig, a village like no other, searching for clues about his
mother, Orla Sweeney. Did she run away after abandoning him at an orphanage in 1950, or did she meet a worse fate?
Mahony fears the latter and finds an ally in Mrs. Cauley, a "twisted old woman" who rises to any challenge. Not unlike
Hamlet, the two stage a play in hopes of flushing out Orla's murderer. Every page of Kidd's who-done-it novel is filled
with magic, spirit, peppery characters, and ghosts of the village dead, including their pets, who are visible only to
some. A wellspring emerges in a priest's house, ushering in a chorus of frogs. Sandwiches "curl up and die," trees "hold
their own counsel," and a swarm of "bullet-headed bees" makes an appearance. Yet there is murder, too. Kidd mixes the
darkest capacities of these villagers with carefully observed whimsy and fantasy. Readers who enjoy a dollop of
whiskey in their tea will feel right at home in Mulderrig.--Emily Dziuban
Dziuban, Emily
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Dziuban, Emily. "Himself." Booklist, 1 Feb. 2017, p. 19. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA481244755&it=r&asid=e3b73d0e80cc8b123fffb039c79b355b.
Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A481244755
Himself review: He sees dead people in Mayo
Jess Kidd’s debut novel is atmospheric but too cliched to really score as mystery or drama
Jess Kidd: The author “has a lovely, unforced style, but perhaps she still needs to find the right genre to showcase her talents”.
Jess Kidd: The author “has a lovely, unforced style, but perhaps she still needs to find the right genre to showcase her talents”.
Previous ImageNext Image
Sarah Gilmartin
Sat, Oct 22, 2016, 05:00
First published:
Sat, Oct 22, 2016, 05:00
Poisoned scones, letter bombs, a hero who sees dead people and a 1970s Irish village desperate to maintain its pious facade: the ingredients for mystery and drama are all present early in Jess Kidd’s debut novel. Citing as its inspirations Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood and JM Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World, Himself sets itself up as a tale of violence and death in an insular, close-knit community where any of the inhabitants could be a suspect.
A gripping prologue in the style of a Grimm’s fairytale sees a baby abandoned in a forest after his outcast teenage mother is brutally murdered in 1956. The novel then alternates between beautiful Orla’s murder and the adult orphan, Mahony, journeying to Mulderrig 20 years later. All he has to go on is a photo of himself as a baby – and a note warning him not to trust anybody in Mulderrig.
A tongue-in-cheek tone initially brings a lightness to proceedings, with characters introduced as speedily and vividly as an Agatha Christie mystery. Loquacious publican Tadgh, the puritan Widow Farelly, upstanding sergeant Jack Brophy, and weasel-like parish priest Fr Quinn make up a colourful if somewhat cliched cast.
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Elevating the troupe is the ancient former actress, Mrs Cauley, a self-styled “Miss Marple with balls” whose love of mysteries niftily results in a whodunnit escapade that will centre on a production of Synge’s play.
Rural duplicities
It is one of many inventive set-ups that Kidd never really develops. There are token efforts to link her story to Synge’s great play about the duplicities of rural Irish society. Similarities abound: the wild west setting, the tale of a murder that grips a community, the hypocrisy and hearsay of village life, the piety masking the savagery, and the oppressive climate for women, who are viewed as either homemakers or whores.
Names also pay homage to Playboy: Mahony the hero, with Fr Quinn and Widow Farelly both an echo of Synge. A pronouncement from a side character towards the close of the novel hems in the famous line: “Oh my grief, I’ve lost him surely.”
There is the sense throughout that these connections are forced upon the story. Little happens organically or without the guiding hand of the author. Mrs Cauley’s idea to put Mahony centre stage in the lead role of the production is introduced and then largely forgotten after the auditions. The production is shunted to the wings as other subplots take over.
In a novel that features numerous ghosts as well as the living, too much happens off-page, though Kidd succeeds in startling the reader with her blend of macabre and domestic: “Mahony ignores a suicide to the right of him, hanging from an oak tree like a twisted chrysalis.”
There is the intriguing story of a ghost child, Ida, who grimly appears to Mahony without the back of her head. Her bereaved mother is a fleeting romantic interest before the young, put-upon young landlady takes precedence. Mrs Cauley has help in her mystery-solving from another formidable older woman in the form of the priest’s housekeeper.
Meanwhile, the ghost of Cauley’s jilted lover Johnny floats around the gardens of Rathmore House, to little purpose.
An omniscient narrator skims the minds of various villagers, revealing disreputable pasts and treacherous secrets. Some of these stretch credibility, even in a novel of this ilk. Widow Farelly’s penchant for “taking care” of the elderly is a back story that is introduced much too late. Readers should guess Orla’s killer long before the reveal, divulged in a sequence of events that lacks the punch of a good comeuppance.
Engagingly no-nonsense
Kidd was raised and lives in London, but her family is from Mayo and her familiarity with the landscape and dialect is evident in her writing. She has a lovely, unforced style, but perhaps she still needs to find the right genre to showcase her talents. Mrs Cauley’s no-nonsense voice is particularly engaging, adding a whimsical tone to the investigations.
The aging sleuth’s devil-may-care attitude as she approaches the end of her life acts as a foil for the sanctimonious Fr Quinn. Her list of suspects is entitled “Men from Mulderrig (between the ages of 15 and 80) and its Environs with the Use of a Vehicle During the Summer of 1949”. Still, this knowing tone ultimately proves problematic to creating the chilling atmosphere needed to sustain the plot.
Despite an imaginative setting and richly drawn central characters, Himself never emerges as more than a mildly diverting caper of murder in an Ireland thankfully past.
Sarah Gilmartin is an arts journalist