num_pages: 362
description: A coming-of-age story of a northern Irish boy getting out from under the thumb of mother, church, and country. Set in Belfast in the late sixties, Bernard MacLaverty's new novel takes us into Martin Brennan's last semester of high school, when he finds old friendships tested and is forced to face the unknown. Before he can become an adult, Martin must unravel the sacred and contradictory mysteries of religion, science, and sex; he must learn the value of friendship; but most of all he must pass his exams―at any cost. Celebrating the desire to speak and the need to say nothing, The Anatomy School moves from the enforced silence of Martin's Catholic school retreat, through the hilarious tea-and-biscuits repartee of his eccentric elders, to the awkward wit and loose profanity of his two friends―the charismatic Kavanagh and the subversive Blaise Foley.
language: English
title: The Anatomy School
titlecomplete: The Anatomy School
genres: Historical, Young Adult, Irish Literature, Modern, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Ireland
ratings_count: 281
places: Belfast, Northern Ireland
publisher: W. W. Norton & Company