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Title details for The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale - Available

The Wicked Boy

The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer

by Kate Summerscale
Corrie James
Audiobook
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1 of 1 copy available
Early 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, the boys told their neighbours, and their mother was visiting her family in Liverpool. Over the next ten days Robert and Nattie spent extravagantly, pawning their parents' valuables to fund trips to the theatre and the seaside. But as the sun beat down on the Coombes house, a strange smell began to emanate from the building. When the police were finally called to investigate, the discovery they made sent the press into a frenzy of horror and alarm, and Robert and Nattie were swept up in a criminal trial that echoed the outrageous plots of the 'penny dreadful' novels that Robert loved to read. In The Wicked Boy, Kate Summerscale has uncovered a fascinating true story of murder and morality - it is not just a meticulous examination of a shocking Victorian case, but also a compelling account of its aftermath, and of man's capacity to overcome the past.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    July 12, 2016

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781501919985
      • File size: 270252 KB
      • Duration: 09:23:01

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Corrie James's crisp British accent is a decided advantage for the listener, given the density of detail Summerscale incorporates into this story of sin and redemption in Victorian England. Along with a historically accurate account of a gruesome crime and its aftermath, Summerscale presents a vivid look at working-class life in London's East End and in Australia from the mid-1800s until after WWII. James's ability to transition smoothly from the standard English of the narrative passages to dialogue featuring both Cockney and Aussie accents adds even more authenticity to this elaborately researched analysis of the ghastly matricide that captivated England in the 1890s. Riveting text and masterful presentation blend wonderfully to create a gripping and informative audiobook. M.O.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from May 2, 2016
      Summerscale (The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher) bolsters her reputation as a superior historical true crime writer with this moving account of Victorian-age murder that is a whydunit rather than a whodunit. In East London during the summer of 1895, 13-year-old Robert Coombes and his younger brother, Nattie, attended a heralded cricket match on their own, telling neighbors that their mother was in Liverpool visiting family. In fact, Emily Coombes was already lying dead in her bed behind a closed door, having been fatally stabbed by Robert. Horrifically, her corpse remained undetected for well over a week while the brothers acted as if nothing were amiss. Upon arrest, Robert claimed he acted after his mother had beaten Nattie, and before she could do the same to him. The resulting trial focused on the question of Robert’s mental state, whether he was really the wicked boy of the book’s title, and how the penny dreadfuls he was so fond of may have warped his mind. Summerscale’s dogged research yields a tragedy that reads like a Dickens novel, including the remarkable payoff at the end.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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