Boy A is the story of a young man, who, convicted of a monstrous childhood crime, is released into society after spending his youth behind bars. Since his real identity must be concealed from the media and the public, he chooses a new name, Jack, from the Big Book of Boys’ Names. Boy A is the story both of society’s bungled attempt to rehabilitate Jack into everyday life, and of Jack’s quest for stability and normality in an alien world.
Pondering nature and nurture, crime and punishment, the media and personal integrity, Boy A is a stunning first novel written with skill and compassion.
Boy A was highly praised on its publication in 2004 and won a number of gongs including the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the 2005 Waverton Good Reading Award (voted for by the public). Once again it has been annoyingly difficult to find any bad reviews and so once again this is a hopelessly biased preview (damn those fantastic first novels!).Described by acclaimed novelist Sarah Walters as “’A compelling narrative, a beautifully structured piece of writing, and a thought-provoking novel of ideas” and in the Independent as “fine and moving debut…a compulsively readable novel”. However, I hope for some more nuanced opinions for all of you- I don’t really think that a novel which touches on such issues can fail to divide opinion. I have a problem with the plot too but more of that later..
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