Barracuda: A Novel

The "immensely moving" (Sunday Times) story of a young athlete's coming of age, by the Man Booker Prize-longlisted author of The Slap Daniel Kelly has one chance to escape his working-class upbringing. His astonishing ability in the swimming pool should transform his life and silence the rich boys at the private school to which he has won a sports scholarship. Everything Danny has ever done, every sacrifice his family has ever made, has been in pursuit of his dream. But when he melts down at his first big championships and comes only fifth, he turns on everyone around him and begins to destroy everything he has ever wanted. Tender, savage, and blazingly brilliant, Barracuda is a novel about dreams and disillusionment, friendship and family. As Daniel Kelly loses everything, he learns what it means to be a good person'and what it takes to become one. From the Hardcover edition.