The Wicked Boy
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Get 3 months for £0.99/mo
The Wicked Boy
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Narrated by:
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Jot Davies
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By:
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Kate Summerscale
About this listen
Early in the morning of Monday, 8 July 1895, 13-year-old Robert Coombes and his 12-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 10 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.
©2016 Kate Summerscale (P)2016 Audible, LtdListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"Summerscale has constructed nothing less than a masterpiece.... My shelves are stacked with books about crime, but none more satisfying than this." (Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday)
Would you listen to The Wicked Boy again? Why?
yes; because everywhere there is history in the makingWho was your favorite character and why?
Robert Coomes; Because we are only now beginning to understand how hard it is to be around his age when the murder he committed took place.What does Jot Davies bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
His voice has a richness that brings the events taking place in the world around the time of Robert Coomes story, to life in a sense of the badness and goodness happening in the human race.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I already have listened in one go, although not sitting. I started this audio book after breakfast when I was washing up, and continued throughout the day. Many chores and 2 meals later I finished itAny additional comments?
I have read reviews saying that not enough information was given to the event, and that they did not have an explanation of why he had done it. I term the ages between 12 and 17; (Teenage Schizophrenia) when hormones are all over the place. It's not hard to fly of the handle or brood if one is been beaten. What I liked most about this book was the way the law and broadmoor were beginning to treat the unfortunates. Split Crow Lane was another audio book that dealt with the emergence of a more understanding society, but a little earlier that this book. I love history and how we are learning from the past.bags of history
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an uneven listen
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Very well researched
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It's something to do with the way the author has presented the story, deciding on a meticulously researched, factual account of the case from day one.
While I more than respect the work that has been done, a lot of the writing seems inconsequential to the case itself, such as an anecdote of a policeman being beaten by a newspaper-seller. I assume this was done to set the scene, as well as fill out a book that refuses to speculate on anything or even attempt to explain actions, but what results is a lot of details about things that have nothing to do with the main plot of the book.
Not only that, but the way the information is presented results in a dry, emotionless account of something shocking. We are never given a chance to get close to anyone, not the boys themselves or the prosecutors.
We are just bystanders reading information in a dry case-history that reads more as an overly detailed police report than anything else.
There is no attempt to do anything other than give us a report of the situation in a dry, factual style that served to bore me more than anything, especially considering the length and amount of filler the writer shoves into her work.
As such, I was so bored by the whole thing that I gave up. Not a terrible work by any means, but top dry to be even the least bit shocking once you get over its initial premise.
Just the Facts, Ma'am
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I kept waiting for something unexpected to understand why there was still so much left of the book. I think the author could have still given context of the time without going so far into detail and detour. The start told the story well and I actually felt the epilogue was a lovely ending, but there were several times in the middle where I couldn't help but check out or lose track of the actual story.
I am glad I finished it, but far too many times wondered how much is left...
Narration was perfect for such a factual account and voices added in for quotes.
More historical than story
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