‘Sweeping and sharply observed . . . Farrell moves effortlessly between time and location and his writing is gorgeous and at times wickedly funny. A deeply impressive book’ Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses
Escaping a tempestuous youth, Suzanne flees her native France for England with her young son, Adam. There she marries and gives birth to Rickie, a second boy. The family enjoys a comfortable, stable life in London but Suzanne never truly feels at home.
Adam and Rickie grow up together but develop very different ideas of what it is to be a man. When word comes that Suzanne’s mother is dying in France, her two boys put their differences aside and accompany her on one last trip. Thrown together, the brothers begin to find common ground – until one act changes everything. As the family unravels, it is Rickie’s wife, Elle, and Suzanne who bear the brunt of Adam and Rickie’s toxic sibling rivalry.
The Best Boy in the World is an unflinching interrogation of masculinity, and of how men are taught to behave. It examines how radically different individual experience within a family can be and the conflict this inevitably creates. Moving through generations and across Europe, this story reveals the insidious legacy of trauma and the strength it takes to confront it.
Escaping a tempestuous youth, Suzanne flees her native France for England with her young son, Adam. There she marries and gives birth to Rickie, a second boy. The family enjoys a comfortable, stable life in London but Suzanne never truly feels at home.
Adam and Rickie grow up together but develop very different ideas of what it is to be a man. When word comes that Suzanne’s mother is dying in France, her two boys put their differences aside and accompany her on one last trip. Thrown together, the brothers begin to find common ground – until one act changes everything. As the family unravels, it is Rickie’s wife, Elle, and Suzanne who bear the brunt of Adam and Rickie’s toxic sibling rivalry.
The Best Boy in the World is an unflinching interrogation of masculinity, and of how men are taught to behave. It examines how radically different individual experience within a family can be and the conflict this inevitably creates. Moving through generations and across Europe, this story reveals the insidious legacy of trauma and the strength it takes to confront it.
Reviews
Sweeping and sharply-observed . . . Farrell moves effortlessly between time and location and his writing is gorgeous and at times wickedly funny. A deeply impressive book
A powerful, vivid, exquisitely written work from a novelist of immense gifts and haunting insights
A daringly imaginative work that feels both ancient and elemental in its exploration of familial love, loss and grievance. Farrell's prose is exquisite, razor sharp and physically lush. Every sentence is brimming, luminous and wise
An excellent, vivid and immersive novel about a broken family across a generation; Farrell very skilfully gets under the skin of the characters, places, and times he describes
Both expansive and intimate, ferocious and tender, The Best Boy in the World examines the impact of the past upon the present with tremendous power and emotional depth
Visceral, astonishing details punctuate this novel which is a meticulous examination of the ways families forge on and flail, generationally and across shifting relationships. Gorgeously authentic and brim with quiet menace, it's another triumph from Seán Farrell