{"product_id":"the-wicked-boy-9781408851166","title":"The Wicked Boy","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction 2017\u003c\/b\u003eThe gripping, fascinating account of a shocking murder case that sent late Victorian Britain into a frenzy, by the number one bestselling, multi-award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eThe Suspicions of Mr Whicher\u003c\/i\u003e''Her research is needle-sharp and her period detail richly atmospheric, but what is most heartening about this truly remarkable book is the story of real-life redemption that it brings to light'' John Carey, \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003eEarly in the morning of Monday 8 July 1895, thirteen-year-old Robert Coombes and his twelve-year-old brother Nattie set out from their small, yellow brick terraced house in east London to watch a cricket match at Lord's. Their father had gone to sea the previous Friday, leaving the boys and their mother at home for the summer. Over the next ten days Robert and Nattie spent extravagantly, pawning family valuables to fund trips to the theatre and the seaside. During this time nobody saw or heard from t\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNo other writer could have made the Coombes case so fascinating and so vivid ... It would be impossible to read this dry-eyed -- Cressida Connelly * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003eAn extraordinary book which will stay with you -- Vanessa Berridge * Daily Express *\u003cbr\u003eGripping... Summerscale is an exquisite storyteller. She is judicious in her use of detail, subtle in her unspoken connections between the past and the present.... This is the story of one wicked boy, but it is also a plea for compassion and empathy -- Daisy Goodwin * The  Times *\u003cbr\u003eFor her latest forensic investigation into the throttled passions of Victorian family life, Summerscale has moved forward 35 years to 1895 and turned away from the provincial bourgeois home to the working-class terraces of London’s East End ... [a] fine account ... subtle and confident -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eUnexpectedly touching... a fascinating account of a murder and its endless reverberations -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *\u003cbr\u003eAs Kate Summerscale has proved before, she has a wonderfully sharp eye for stories which turn out not to be quite what they seem... a remarkably heartening story -- John Preston * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003eCompelling... it gripped and stoked the national imagination, just as it surely will again -- Philippa Stockley * Evening Standard *\u003cbr\u003eA work of social history that is as compassionate as it is absorbing... we almost feel we are wandering through these scenes ourselves -- Rebecca Gowers * The Oldie *\u003cbr\u003eUltimately, the narrative is an exploration of Victorian attitudes to juvenile crime, and this pacy slice of social history acts as both hawk-eyed prosecution and gentle defence -- Zoe Apostolides * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003eAn absorbing account of fin-de-siecle Britain... [and] a powerful story about vulnerable and neglected children, both then and now -- Daisy Hay * Daily Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eIt’s a fascinating story and Summerscale tells it beautifully... [Her] sympathetic and intelligent study is full of social interest too. I can’t imagine that it could have been done better -- Alan Massie * Scotsman *\u003cbr\u003eThe challenge, to which Ms Summerscale rises wonderfully well, is to sustain the reader’s interest in him for the remaining 50-odd years of his life … Evocative … Through a mixture of serendipity and meticulous research, Ms Summerscale is able to add one final, heart-stopping twist * Economist *\u003cbr\u003eRedemption comes twice in this account … An extremely touching twist … Scrupulous and occasionally startling -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *\u003cbr\u003eSummerscale has performed a stunning post-mortem of “the horror” at number 35 … Talk about bringing history alive * Sunday Express *\u003cbr\u003eIt is above all her skill in creating a context for the crime which makes \u003ci\u003eThe Wicked Boy \u003c\/i\u003eso readable … the sounds and smells of the East End docks, from which their father set sail, are evoked with particular vividness. More fascinating still are the ideas of the age ... An extraordinary tale of redemption * Tablet *\u003cbr\u003eHer research is needle-sharp and her period detail richly atmospheric, but what is most heartening about this truly remarkable book is the story of real-life redemption that it brings to light -- John Carey * Sunday Times *","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49408010879319,"sku":"9781408851166","price":11.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781408851166.jpg?v=1730501261","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-wicked-boy-9781408851166","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}