Mr S and the Secrets of Andorra's Box

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Mr S and the Secrets of Andorra's Box
Ross-andorra.jpg
Author Paul Howard
IllustratorAlan Clarke
Cover artistAlan Clarke
LanguageEnglish
Series Ross O'Carroll-Kelly
Genre Comic novel, satire
Set in Dublin and Andorra, 2006
Publisher Penguin Books
Publication date
30 October 2008
Publication placeRepublic of Ireland
Media typePaperback
Pages356
ISBN 978-0-14-190012-4
823.92
Preceded by This Champagne Mojito Is The Last Thing I Own  
Followed by Rhino What You Did Last Summer  

Mr S and the Secrets of Andorra's Box is a 2008 novel by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard, and the eighth in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Title

The title references Pandora's Box. "Mr S" is Frank Sinatra, who Ross' father drank with one night in the Shelbourne Hotel.

Background

Howard stated that the twist in this book — that Charles is Erika's father, and that she is therefore Ross's half-sister — had been planned "from about three books back," i.e. around the time of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress . [4]

Plot

Ross becomes the coach of the Andorra national rugby union team. It is revealed that Ross's longtime crush Erika is his half-sister. Ross also attempts psychotherapy as he tries to cope with separation from Sorcha and Honor. Immaculata, the African orphan that Sorcha once sponsored, arrives at the door. J.P. leaves the seminary, while Fionnuala becomes a TV chef. [5]

Reception

In the Irish Independent , Anne Marie Scanlon wrote, "Ross is a monster, but one who consistently entertains us, and maybe it is the Irish obsession with the craic that makes Mr O'Carroll Kelly such an unfailingly welcome character," describing the book as "spot-on social satire." [6]

In The Irish Times , Kevin Power praised Howard's "flawless ear for the verbal self-betrayals of our prosperous middle class […] This is more than an extraordinary comic gift; it is a way of talking seriously about character and social standing." However, he also observed that "The very early Ross books were cruder, but more identifiably satirical […] there was in those early novels a kind of anger that surfaces only faintly in the new one. It may be that Ross is running out of steam." [7]

Mr S and the Secrets of Andorra's Box was shortlisted the Eason Irish Popular Fiction Book of the Year award at the 2009 Irish Book Awards. [8] [9]

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References

  1. ↑ O'Carroll-Kelly, Ross (30 October 2008). Mr S and the Secrets of Andorra's Box. Penguin UK. ISBN   9780141900124 – via Google Books.
  2. ↑ Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry (26 June 2015). The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Routledge. ISBN   9781317372516 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ "This autumn sees a great crop of new titles to read". Independent.ie. 6 September 2008.
  4. ↑ "ON BEING ROSS". The Irish Times.
  5. ↑ Maher, Eamon; O'Brien, Eugene (4 September 2014). From Prosperity to Austerity: A Socio-Cultural Critique of the Celtic Tiger and Its Aftermath. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780719091674 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ "Ross fails as a nice goy -- thank God". Independent.ie. 9 November 2008.
  7. ↑ Power, Kevin. "Keeping his mirror uncracked". The Irish Times.
  8. ↑ "Another 'gift' for Cecelia as novel makes shortlist". Independent.ie. 31 March 2009.
  9. ↑ "Your vote counts in Book Awards 2009". Independent.ie. 4 April 2009.
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