Juno Loves Legs

Contents
 
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Contents
 Dedication
 Part One
 
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 Chapter 7
 Chapter 8
 Chapter 9
 Chapter 10
 Chapter 11
 Chapter 12
 Chapter 13
 Chapter 14
 Chapter 15
 Chapter 16
 Chapter 17
 Chapter 18
 Chapter 19
 Chapter 20
 Chapter 21
 Chapter 22
 Chapter 23
 
 Part Two
 
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 
 Part Three
 
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 Chapter 7
 Chapter 8
 Chapter 9
 Chapter 10
 Chapter 11
 Chapter 12
 
 Acknowledgments
 About the Author
 Copyright
 
 
 
 Guide
 
 Cover
 Part One
 Contents
 
 
 
 
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 Praise for Juno Loves Legs
 “An ode to love, to the salvation of friendship, and to the families we build when our own families fail us. Filled with loss and longing, Juno Loves Legs is by turns brutal and tender, and, in the end, utterly devastating. The characters are so real, so desperate to be loved, that the reader will want to reach through the pages and hold them. The effect is extraordinary.”
 —DOUGLAS STUART, author of Young Mungo and Shuggie Bain
 “An original and exquisitely tender story of two misfits who find love in an often callous and indifferent world, Juno Loves Legs will haunt you long after you have read it. In gorgeous, effortless prose, Karl Geary bears witness to those who, like his protagonists, are invisible and voiceless. By boldly confronting the darkness, this novel finds the light.”
 —GABRIEL BYRNE, author of Walking with Ghosts
 “Karl Geary writes devastatingly beautiful novels. Juno and Legs will break your heart in the very best way and leave you laughing in spite of yourself. It’s a perfectly drawn portrait of lives lived boldly on the edge of disaster. A backstreet epic. I literally couldn’t put it down.”
 —JAN CARSON, author of The Raptures
 “A sensitive, wrenching portrait of two young outsiders searching for sanctuary in the bruised hearts of each other. Geary’s exquisitely rendered Dublin is at times a bleak place, but that darkness is defiantly illuminated by the humor and humanity of his unforgettable protagonist. You will ache for Juno.”
 —DAN SHEEHAN, author of Restless Souls
 
 
 
 
 
 ALSO BY KARL GEARY
 Montpelier Parade
 
 
 
 
 
 Contents
 Part One
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 Chapter 7
 Chapter 8
 Chapter 9
 Chapter 10
 Chapter 11
 Chapter 12
 Chapter 13
 Chapter 14
 Chapter 15
 Chapter 16
 Chapter 17
 Chapter 18
 Chapter 19
 Chapter 20
 Chapter 21
 Chapter 22
 Chapter 23
 Part Two
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 Part Three
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 Chapter 7
 Chapter 8
 Chapter 9
 Chapter 10
 Chapter 11
 Chapter 12
 Acknowledgments
 
 
 In memory of Angie.
 
 
 One
 
 
 If the young are not initiated into the village, they will burn it down just to feel its warmth.
 AFRICAN PROVERB
 
 
 1
 Be still,’ says Mam and with one hand she folded a piece of cream satin material along the nape of Miss Anderson’s neck, with her other hand she pulled the fabric tighter across her waist and, taking a pin from the collection she held in her mouth, pinned it.
 Mam’s hands were spotless clean but her nails were stained and it made them look dirty even though she scrubbed them with a nailbrush and soap, and even though we only had cold water, they were clean. Her hand crossed down the arch of Miss Anderson’s back. Under the lightbulb, the material shimmered. I wanted to touch it. My hands were dirty.
 She stood back and her eyes watched around Miss Anderson’s figure for that sharp edge where the wedding dress met the world. She told her again, ‘Be still,’ so the woman stood with her arms draped at her side, unnatural as a moulded figure stuck on a wedding cake. Mam picked up the trail of the dress: she knew the weight of fabric. She dropped