BOOK REVIEW: The Pride of the ACRE

Book by Stephen O’Connor

Review by Ed DeJesus

Participants of this blog would agree that reading distinguished Lowell, MA author Stephen O’Connor’s short stories and novels is always a joy. But his latest, “The Pride of the ACRE, is a gem! Move over Andre Dumas III, we have another compelling coming-of-age flick-worthy tale. Growing up in the book’s era, playing billiards with my Lowell classmates and the Golden Glovers noted in O’Connor’s acknowledgments was a bonus. But you don’t have to be from that Irish Mill City neighborhood or the Baystate to appreciate this tender, poignant novel that vividly reflects how a tough life and difficult choices can impact the fate of its cast of troubled characters.

Readers will be enthralled by the protagonist, Charlie Tumulty, who tugs at your heart from his poverty-plagued childhood abandoned by his estranged father and raised by his struggling alcoholic mom through to his bouts in the ring and vows to be better than his drunken parents. Mr. O ensures that every shred of foreshadowing is satisfied, every bad guy dies, every act of revenge is justified, and every worthy character has a cozy conclusion.

If this were my masterfully written novel, I’d get it to Mark Wahlberg, who produced and starred in “The Fighter,” filmed in Lowell. Whoever portrays young Charlie would be just as vital as the subsequent boxer and ex-con. Meanwhile, don’t wait for the two-thumbs-up flick; get the Amazon five-star rated book, The Pride of the ACRE, also available at the Lala Books in Lowell, MA, and Barnes & Noble.

****

The Pride of the Acre was published in December 2024 and is available from Amazon.

Ed DeJesus is the author of the forthcoming novel The Vulnerable, set in greater Lowell and Florida.