Semifinalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award (2012).

“A witty, brilliant, devastating expression of outrage . . . this novel is so subtly imagined, so elegantly structured, written in such hilarious prose but with such horrifying details, that what it offers is an overpowering, visionary judgement of a society.”
—Times Literary Supplement

“The mix of dire experiences that goes into the education dished out at the Brothers of Godly Coercion School for Young Boys of Meager Means adds up to a mordantly funny debut from Dublin native Holohan.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Taking dead aim at the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church and the atmosphere of repression that allowed abuse to flourish, this first novel uses satire to stinging effect . . . Terribly bleak and terribly funny, this skillful debut pays tribute to the irrepressible spirit of all the rebellious young boys who would not give in to authoritarian rule.”
—Booklist

“[Holohan] possesses his own distinct voice. Especially useful as therapy for recovering Catholics or to tweak apologists of the church, this impressive debut is highly recommended.”
—Library Journal (starred review)

“Holohan’s ability to write the kind of free-flowing naturalistic dialogue that so potently conveys the anarchic spirit of schoolboy warfare . . . is grounded by a shadow play of macabre references to horrors that ghost around the edges of the narrative, many eerily similar to some of the more infamous real life reports that have emerged in recent years.”
—Irish Times

“The book is funny, fast-paced with one crisis after another, but always pulls at the heartstrings.”
–Brooklyn Rail

“The Brothers’ Lot takes on serious subject matter—the grim aftermath of World War II, the abuse of children by priests—with biting satire that lends comic relief to an otherwise dark novel.”
—The Daily Beast, Book Beast

“Upon this ethical foundation for an entertaining tale, Holohan follows a satirical tradition which questions authority, undermines cliche, and upends the social order. Reading The Brother’s Lot, I thought not only of Flann O’Brien and Kafka but of another Dubliner, Jonathan Swift.”
—PopMatters

“Kevin Holohan’s strange yet disconcertingly recognizable world has echoes of Flann O’Brien’s and Monty Python’s, but there is rage as well as absurdist comedy. The Brothers’ Lot is a memorable, skillfully wrought, and evocative satire of an Ireland that has collapsed under the weight of its contradictions.”
—Joseph O’Connor, author of Star of the Sea

“Kevin Holohan’s wickedly funny debut novel, set in a rundown Dublin religious school where the spirits are low but the Gaelic pride runs high, will make you laugh almost as much as it makes you weep, for beyond their almost comical incompetence and a thin veneer of piety the Brothers who run the place are sad, flawed men, whose weaknesses range from sadism to depravity. They educate by cudgel and dole out discipline with a leather strap, while protagonist Finbar Sullivan and the other long-suffering students bear it all with the kind of wise-cracking cynicism, irreverence, and pranks that one would expect at that age.”
—Preston L. Allen, author of Jesus Boy

“Kevin Holohan takes us to a harrowing place. This vivid book aims to break your heart while it makes you catch your breath. It is powerful and is not afraid of the dark.”
—Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Devil’s Highway

“The Brothers’ Lot is a screamingly funny indictment of the culture of repression and abuse that has plagued Ireland for generations, but it is much more than that. It is a brilliantly told tale, compassionate and brutal. Most important, it celebrates the spirit of reckless bravery and rebellion, the spirit that draws back the curtain on iconic institutions to reveal the frailty of an ecclesiastical house of cards.”
—Tim McLoughlin, author of Heart of the Old Country