Accessibility Tools

  • Content scaling 100%
  • Font size 100%
  • Line height 100%
  • Letter spacing 100%
Print this page

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne

by
July–August 2012, no. 343

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne

Doubleday, $19.95 pb, 261 pp, 9780857531476

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne

by
July–August 2012, no. 343

A midnight birth on a Friday is the first suggestion that Barnaby Brocket is not an ordinary arrival. Seconds later, baby Barnaby slips through the doctor’s hands and floats towards the ceiling. For his parents, Eleanor and Alistair, life until this point has been satisfyingly normal, with ‘no time for people who were unusual or who made a show of themselves in public’. Barnaby’s airborne ways leave his family ashamed. Being different is the worst thing in the world.

Laura Elvery reviews 'The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket' by John Boyne

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket

by John Boyne

Doubleday, $19.95 pb, 261 pp, 9780857531476