The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers
The instant Sunday Times bestseller that everyone’s talking about!
-
-
4.1 • 17 Ratings
-
-
- £8.99
-
- £8.99
Publisher Description
THE INSTANT TOP FIVE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER!
'Utterly beautiful. I adored it' JOANNA CANNON
'Hugely uplifting and wonderful' AJ PEARCE
'Truly heartwarming' THE TIMES
Sometimes finding your place in the world is the greatest puzzle of all...
Clayton Stumper is an enigma.
He might be twenty-five years old, but he dresses like your grandad and drinks sherry like your aunt.
Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised by the sharpest minds in the British Isles and finds himself amongst the last survivors of a fading institution.
When the esteemed crossword compiler, Pippa Allsbrook, passes away, she bestows her final puzzle to him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for his future.
Yet as Clay begins to unpick the clues, he uncovers something even the Fellowship have never been able to solve - and it's a secret that will change everything...
***
Readers are loving The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers!
'Absolutely wonderful. A beautiful story of love and friendship' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Quirky and joyful. A delight to read with lovely characters' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'A charming tale. Original and uplifting and an absolute ode to not just friendship but fellowship' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Such a joyful book. A unique storyline, the characters are wonderful and it's really uplifting' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Truly, the most joyous of books!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This is a gorgeous book. Its hero, Clayton Stumper, is one of those instantly memorable literary characters: left as a baby with the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers (a commune populated by some of Britain’s smartest, most eccentric minds), we meet him at 25 with him mourning the death of the closest thing he had to a mother, Pippa Allsbrook. As a parting gift, Pippa sets Clayton on a clue-stuffed journey that might uncover the truth about his birth family, ready him for a life outside the Fellowship and even defog his own sexual desires. Samuel Burr paints Clayton with real love and joy—he would be an easy character to capture with broad, emotionally obvious brushstrokes, but instead we get a surprisingly honest account of a young man determined to chart their own course all within a stunningly realised and detailed plot.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Burr debuts with the cheerful tale of a young man's found family and the joy of puzzles. Clayton Stumper, 25, was left at the doorstep of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers in Bedfordshire, England, as an infant and grew up surrounded by the eccentric, elderly residents of the commune, including his primary caregiver, Pippa Allsbrook, founder of the Fellowship and the most prolific crossword compiler in Britain. Feeling unmoored by Pippa's recent death, Clayton determines to discover the identity of his birth parents. Pippa, one step ahead as usual, has left him with a series of puzzles for him to complete, which set him on his course. His first stop is London, where he visits Nancy Stone, an ex-member of the Fellowship who left Bedfordshire just before Clayton showed up there. As he pieces together Pippa's clues, he tentatively explores life away from his routines and feels the beginnings of his first romance with Nancy's home health aid, Neil. The PG-rated scenes with Clayton and Neil feel a bit too restrained—Burr is better at intricate plotting than he is at portraying Clayton's burgeoning sexuality—though there's a genuine sweetness to both story lines. This has plenty of heart.
Customer Reviews
Heartwarming
Such a lovely heartwarming tale, bringing old and young together.
Twists and turns all the way.
I throughly enjoyed being immersed in the story.