The Roundabout Man, 9780340994320
Paperback
Running from fame, a man confronts his past on a roundabout.

The Roundabout Man

  • Paperback

    336 pages

  • Release Date

    12 November 2012

Summary

The Enigmatic Life of the Roundabout Man

He doesn’t appear to be homeless, yet he calls a caravan on a traffic island his home, living off scraps from a nearby service station. He goes by Quinn, a name borrowed from a beloved children’s book character, despite being closer to retirement than childhood.

His deepest secret: he is the real Quinn, the boy immortalized in his mother’s enchanting tales of childhood adventures with his triplet sisters. It’s an inheritance …

Book Details

ISBN-13:9780340994320
ISBN-10:0340994320
Series:Sceptre
Author:Clare Morrall
Publisher:Hodder & Stoughton
Imprint:Sceptre
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:336
Release Date:12 November 2012
Weight:240g
Dimensions:196mm x 128mm x 26mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

The storyline is well-crafted, but what distinguishes this novel is its terrific cast, with vividly drawn principals and bit-parts alike - truly impressive and really enjoyable. - Harry Ritchie, Daily Mail

well-tempered and charming… Morrall’s language is clear, simple and precise, much like a children’s story itself, so that the effect is as if you are returning to those simpler days of storytelling at your parents’ feet. But, as she makes clear, they were never that simple….[she] discusses the blurring of fiction and reality with a sapient, often sorrowful humour. - Philip Womack, Telegraph

Morrall has always excelled at portraying individuals who are out of kilter with the world and critical of it…The fundamental mystery of the artistic imagination is one of the threads that run through Morrall’s novel, along with its destructive effects on those in proximity to the artist and the extent to which every life is fictional…Best of all is the portrait of the hapless Quinn. Despite his glamorous back story, he has no outstanding qualities yet is quietly fascinating. - Suzi Feay, Literary Review

Morrall’s fictional eye is set firmly on the quirks of the individual. It is an approach that has served her brilliantly…And Quinn fits the mould wonderfully. Morrall writes with poise and delicacy, and her subjects are delightfully offbeat. - Lucy Atkins, Sunday Times

Why he’s [Quinn] had to hide from his own life is beautifully, lyrically and subtly unfolded here by Clare Morrall, a novelist to watch. - Resident

…a warm and wise novel about celebrity and the clash between childhood nostalgia and reality… - Good Housekeeping

Clare Morrall brings her flair for capturing people on the periphery of society to the fore in this witty look at the gulf between past and present, and childhood nostalgia. - Stylist

Witty and well-observed…With its relentless attention to detail, packed with secrets and revelations, this is a novel to be explored as much as enjoyed. Morrall invites us to abandon ourselves to the thrill of discovery as we join Quinn on his final adventure, and it’s a very welcome invitation - We Love This Book

About The Author

Clare Morrall

Clare Morrall’s first novel, Astonishing Splashes of Colour, was published by Tindal Street Press in 2003 and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She has since published three novels: NATURAL FLIGHTS OF THE HUMAN MIND, THE LANGUAGE OF OTHERS and THE MAN WHO DISAPPEARED. Born in Exeter, she now lives in Birmingham where she works as a music teacher, and has two grown-up children.

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