Golden Child
From the Booker prize longlisted author of Love Forms
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3.9 • 28 Ratings
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- £6.49
Publisher Description
WINNER OF THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE
WINNER OF THE AUTHORS' CLUB FIRST NOVEL AWARD
WINNER OF THE MCKITTERICK PRIZE 2020
WINNER OF BARNES & NOBLE'S DISCOVER NEW WRITERS PRIZE
ONE OF THE BBC'S '100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD'
'So hard to put down.' Daily Mail
'The work of a master . . . tender, ravishing, shattering.' Guardian
'Startling . . . Remarkable.' Economist
One father. Two sons. An impossible choice.
When thirteen-year-old Paul doesn't return home one afternoon, even his twin brother, Peter, doesn't know where he is. So their father, Clyde, must set out into the dark Trinidadian bush with a torch, to search for him on foot. And when the reasons for Paul's disappearance become clear, Clyde will be faced with a terrible decision. How does a father choose between his children? How does he weigh up what each one is worth? Which one is the golden child?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Claire Adam’s debut novel is a mesmerising portrait of a young family that’s sent barreling towards an unthinkable crisis when one of their sons goes missing. Set in Adam’s native Trinidad, Golden Child dissects the percolating tensions within the Deyalsingh clan between fathers and sons, husbands and wives and a tangle of extended family. The story—which revolves around twins whose fates cruelly diverge at the moment of their birth—maps an emotional landscape of both devotion and betrayal. Masterfully constructed and utterly riveting, this singular domestic drama is as devastating as it is beautiful.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Adam's excellent debut explores a dark and haunting Sophie's Choice like dilemma set in the lush and dangerous bush of Trinidad. At the center are 13-year-old twin brothers Peter, the brilliant son with a golden future, and Paul, the family's sorrow who are simultaneously lifted and doomed by the aspirations of their parents, relatives, and teachers. The first of three parts begins with the disappearance of Paul after a harsh tongue-lashing by his father, Clyde. The second part reveals Paul's troubled childhood, in which he's cast as mentally slow and Peter as a genius by their doting mother, Joy, Paul's lifelong protector. It's also when the concern of an Irish priest at the boys' school in Port of Spain opens Paul to his first-ever glimmer of hope and confidence before a break-in at the family's rural home triggers the tragic chain of events leading to Paul's disappearance. In the third part, Clyde makes the heartbreaking choice forced by a jealous family member that seals the fate of the boys and family. Throughout this stunning portrait of Trinidad's multicultural diversity, and one family's sacrifices, soaring hopes and ultimate despair, Adam weaves a poetic lightness and beauty that will transfix readers.
Customer Reviews
Boring and predictable
This is by far the worst book I’ve read. It was boring, most of the book was irrelevant to the story line, and the ending was completely predictable. A total waste of time.