Karl Geary’s sophomore novel flirts with and then darkly subverts the marriage plot, killing off the nuclear family in an attempt to remake it, with a difference." —Annabel Barry, Chicago Review of Books Misfit buddies from unkind worlds who find salvation in each other has been done before in fiction, but Geary elevates the trope with an original central duo After Montpelier Parade, I thought: writing novels is all I want to be doing. How do I structure my life in a way that I can do this? Glasgow is probably one of the few cities that’s affordable in that way. Legs is a talented artist. Juno loves to watch her mother sew and repair garments, longing to be allowed to use the Singer sewing machine. She spends hours at the local library, the librarian suggesting books to read. There is another world that Juno can’t even imagine. Where young women go to college and find careers.

The heartstopping story of a once-in-a-life friendship, for fans of Shuggie Bain, My Brilliant Friend and Just KidsShuggie Bain vibes abound in this tenderhearted tale." —Michelle Hart, An Electric Literature Most Anticipated Book of 2023 Karl Geary has written a touching and emotional novel that describes a love between two young people that is quite commonplace but is told with such care and delicacy that it reaches much higher heights. Juno and Legs meet at a school where (as usual) the nuns are awful old tyrants and the priests are no better. They survive somehow but are changed and damaged. The second half of the novel describes their meeting as young adults. Like fellow Irish novelist Donal Ryan, Geary writes fractured outsiders not just with skill but with humility... Juno Loves Legs, in all its painful beauty, is a more than worthy successor [to Montpelier Parade] Guardian The characters are three-dimensional and sympathetic as they struggle to overcome the cruel circumstances of their lives . . . Atmospheric.”— Library Journal It’s a blustery January afternoon, and Karl Geary is sitting across from me in the Clarence Hotel in Dublin. The author and former actor is visiting from Glasgow in Scotland to talk about his forthcoming novel, Juno Loves Legs, but it’s not long before we’re on the topic of hotels and housing.

Heartbreaking . . . Geary often finds poetry in Juno’s plainspoken narration, whether in lucid reflections on the brutality at the school or in Juno’s openhearted wonder at Dublin . . . The blistering dialogue, too, captures the characters’ hard-won wisdom . . . This is one to savor.”— Publishers Weekly (starred review) Juno Loves Legs is the story of two teens labeled as delinquents. Juno and “Legs” grow up on the same housing estate in Dublin, where spirited, intelligent Juno is ostracized for her poverty and Legs is persecuted for his sexuality; they find safety only in each other. Het verhaal wordt voornamelijk verteld vanuit het perspectief van Juno, en terwijl kleine scènes uit haar leven laten zien hoe ze opgroeit in een harde omgeving, hoe haar weinig kansen en mogelijkheden worden geboden om op te klimmen, merk je dat ze dolgraag gezien en geaccepteerd wil worden. In Legs, ook een buitenbeentje, vindt ze een verwante ziel, en ze klampen zich aan elkaar vast, worden elkaars baken in hun verder grimmige bestaan en hoewel ze allebei geen makkelijke start in het leven kennen, zijn er toch lichtpuntjes en hoop, want ze hebben de ander.

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I don’t really want to say too much more about the plot as it’s best just to immerse yourself in it and allow it to unfold. Karl Geary is such a beautiful writer. Juno Loves Legs is completely authentic and harrowing and brilliantly observed . . . a heartbreaker, and absolutely unforgettable. Donal Ryan, author of THE QUEEN OF DIRT ISLAND I will always have a soft spot for the misfit toys of this world, and it has set out a cushion for Juno and Legs. Geary finds beauty in the most unlikely places, and in an often brutal story, with more than its fair share of small tragedies, he offers balm along the way; a reminder that humanity is everywhere, if we take the time to look, and a clear demonstration that family is less about genetics and more about love." —Joanna Cannon, The Guardian