Mother's Boy

A stunning novel of Cornwall, war and hidden love

De: Patrick Gale

Narrado por: Patrick Gale

From the best-selling author of A Place Called Winter comes Mother's Boy, a superb historical novel of Cornwall, class, desire and two world wars.

Laura, an impoverished Cornish girl, meets her husband when they are both in service in Teignmouth in 1916. They have a baby, Charles, but Laura's husband returns home from the trenches a damaged man, already ill with the tuberculosis that will soon leave her a widow. In a small, class-obsessed town she raises her boy alone, working as a laundress and gradually becomes aware that he is some kind of genius.

As an intensely private young man, Charles signs up for the navy with the new rank of coder. His escape from the tight, gossipy confines of Launceston to the colour and violence of war sees him blossom as he experiences not only the possibility of death, but the constant danger of a love that is as clandestine as his work.

Mother's Boy is the story of a man who is among yet apart from his fellows, in thrall to yet at a distance from his own mother; a man being shaped for a long, remarkable and revered life spent hiding in plain sight. But it is equally the story of the dauntless mother who will continue to shield him long after the dangers of war are past.

©2022 Patrick Gale (P)2022 Headline Publishing Group Ltd

Reseñas de la Crítica

"One of the joys of Gale's writing is how even the smallest of characters can appear fully formed, due to a charming wickedness alongside deeper observations." (Irish Times)

"A writer with heart, soul and a dark and naughty wit, one whose company you relish and trust." (Observer)

Un-put-down-able. Storytelling at its best

Bravo ! Patric Gales’ best. Gently tugging reader to see more fully while remaining mesmerizing till last word . Beautiful story

Patrick Gale at his best!

As an avid reader of Gales since Aerodynamics of Pork, I look forward to his new writing with mounting anticipation. And to his credit, he does not disappoint. Weaving, acerbic wit and Cornish charm, his writing is thought provoking and oddly comforting.

A disappointment

This was a disappointment as I thoroughly enjoyed "A Place Called Winter". I didn't realize when starting that this was a fictional retelling of the life of the real poet Charles Causley. The story is told from Charles and his mother's perspective. It felt clinical and detached. I kept on waiting for something to happen but nothing really did. I felt obligated to push myself to finish and was left utterly unsatisfied and simply disappointed. At some point, I get a sense that the author seems to be sympathetic to the Nazi germans and Imperial Japanese through both Laura and Charles's POV which left me rather uncomfortable. As someone who is interested in WWII history and atrocities committed against innocent civilians by the Imperial Japanese, especially being someone with ancestors who suffered under such cruelty, it was slightly upsetting.

Unfortunately, I don't think I will be picking up another book by Mr. Gale, at least for some time.