Boy in the World

A beautiful and moving novel about a young boy’s journey from childhood to adulthood from the bestselling author of Four Letters of Love

Niall Williams draws us into life in a small village in Ireland where a boy is growing up and making his first tentative steps to becoming a man. Questioning everything in an attempt to make sense of the world he is discovering through books, he is on the cusp of an understanding of what it is to be a man. But, when the Master, his caring old guardian, gives him a letter from his long-dead mother, his world comes crashing down.

Learning for the first time that his father is not dead, as he had been led to believe, the boy must relearn everything he thought he knew. He sets out to find his father, piecing together the information he can glean from his mother's letter: he is a journalist for the BBC, he has lived in London, and he is a Muslim.

The boy sets out to find his father. Arriving in London, disorientated and alone, he finds himself at the centre of a terrorist attack as the BBC is bombed and hundreds are killed and injured. Taken under the caring wing of Sister Bridget, a nun also caught up in the chaos, he refuses to allow this catastrophe to move him from his goal; he must find his father.

This is the heart-warming tale of a young boy trying to find his way in a changing world, a world where no-one is safe and where terrorists seek to destroy all that civilisation holds dear.

Reviews

Praise for Boy in the World:

'A tender coming-of-age novel'
Daily Mail

'With poetic prose that could have been written by angels, combined with a pace that keeps the reader turning the pages…A Dickens for the 21st century. A spiritually enriching story of such beauty and magic that is deserves a place not just in the 9/11 canon, but also on the Leaving Cert syllabus as well'
Irish Times

'At times thoughtful and moving, ultimately it is the empathy the reader feels for the young boy that allows this fine novel to resonate so well'
Sunday Business Post

'Williams's style is reflective and moving'
Metro

'Using some really stunning descriptive prose, Williams pulls you gently along on a wave of sounds and pictures. He writes differently, a succeeds in creating vivid images that stay in your mind long after the book is closed'
Sunday Tribune

'A beautifully crafted story of discovery'
Belfast Telegraph

'Emotional insightfulness saturates this novel'
Sunday Times

About the author

Niall Williams was born in 1958 and lives in Kiltumper with his wife Christine and their two children. His previous novels, Four Letters of Love and As it is in Heaven, were published to acclaim and became international bestsellers. His latest book, Boy and Man is the sequal to his acclaimed Boy in the World.