''Camino Royale'' is a 2023 comic novel by Irish playwright and author Paul Howard and is the twenty-third novel in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series. The title refers to the film '' Casino Royale'' and to the

Camino de Santiago The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint ...

pilgrimage route.

Release

The novel was released on 17 August 2023. Three audio excerpts were released on '' The Irish Times'' website to mark the publication. Howard spoke with

Ciara Kelly Ciara Kelly is an Irish radio presenter, columnist and former GP. She presents the morning show on Newstalk. She also has a weekly column with the '' Sunday Independent''. Career Kelly qualified from University College Dublin as a medical doctor ...

on RTÉ Radio 1 on 21 August about the book. Author Paul Howard hosted "An evening of reading, story-telling and laughter" at the Whale Theatre, Greystones on 3 November 2023 to promote ''Camino Royale''.

Plot

Ross' wife Sorcha wants a divorce, and he worries that he may have impregnated her sister. His mother Fionnuala falls deeper into dementia, while his father Charles (still Taoiseach) cultivates a relationship with Boris Johnson following Ireland's withdrawal from the European Union. He and his former rugby teammates walk the Camino after receiving a beyond-the-grave request from Father Fehily.

Reception

In '' The University Times'' (Trinity College Dublin), Cilian Hickey called ''Camino Royale'' "a cracking read. You won’t grow too many brain cells by reading it, nor will you find lyrical descriptions or complex vocabulary. What you should find is a good few laughs at the expense of those who can best afford it." It was shortlisted for National Book Tokens Popular Fiction Book of the Year at the 2023

Irish Book Awards The Irish Book Awards are Irish literary awards given annually to books and authors in various categories. In 2018 An Post took over sponsorship of the awards from Bord Gais Energy. It is the only literary award supported by all-Irish bookstores. ...

References

2023 Irish novels Penguin Books books Ross O'Carroll-Kelly Fiction set in 2019 Novels set in the 2010s Camino de Santiago in popular culture {{2020s-comedy-novel-stub