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The American Boy
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
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The American Boy
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Summary
The number one best seller and award-winning Richard & Judy Book Club Pick.
Murder, lies and betrayal in Regency England
England 1819. Thomas Shield, a master at a school just outside London, is tutor to a young American boy and the child’s sensitive best friend, Charles Frant. Helplessly drawn to Frant’s beautiful, unhappy mother, Shield becomes entwined in their family’s affairs.
When a brutal murder takes place in London’s seedy backstreets, all clues lead to the Frant family, and Shield is tangled in a web of lies, money, sex and death that threatens to tear his new life apart.
Soon, it emerges that at the heart of these macabre events lies the strange American boy. What secrets is the young Edgar Allan Poe hiding?
Critic reviews
"Hugely entertaining. Its beguiling story and atmospheric evocation of Regency London and the winter landscapes of Gloucestershire cry out for a wingback chair by a blazing fire." (Observer)
"In the end, the myriad mysteries of The American Boy are all neatly accounted for, as one would expect from a thriller writer such as Taylor. But he has transcended any limitations of genre in this novel, for it is a wonderful book, richly composed and beautifully written, an enthralling read from start to finish." (The Times)
"Creates an atmosphere close to Sarah Waters' Fingersmith in the convincing depiction of a sadistic underworld. Taylor's deeply absorbing and beautifully written book is a fitting tribute to the founding father of crime fiction." (Independent)
"A most artful and delightful book, that will both amuse and chill, and it will have you desperate to search out a quiet corner to continue your acquaintance with it." (Daily Telegraph)