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A review by wyvernfriend
The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer by Kate Summerscale
3.0
Interesting story but I wasn't caught by the storytelling.
Starts in the Victorian era, when a boy of 13, Robert Coombes and his 12 year old brother Nattie have 10 days of freedom until the smell from their house causes someone to investigate only to find that their mother is dead, their father is off at sea and they have recruited a family friend to help take care of them.
When the mother's body is examined they discover that she has been stabbed and Robert admits that he's the one who did it. The trial ends with him in Broadmoor, convicted. After many years he's declared sane and discharged and he goes to Australia. Then he enlists and becomes a stretcher bearer and musician for the Australian Army and lives into old age, showing compassion to a young boy who is beaten by his father, becoming a read father to him.
It's an interesting story of redemption and complicated life that made me think, though the writing style somehow left me cold.
Starts in the Victorian era, when a boy of 13, Robert Coombes and his 12 year old brother Nattie have 10 days of freedom until the smell from their house causes someone to investigate only to find that their mother is dead, their father is off at sea and they have recruited a family friend to help take care of them.
When the mother's body is examined they discover that she has been stabbed and Robert admits that he's the one who did it. The trial ends with him in Broadmoor, convicted. After many years he's declared sane and discharged and he goes to Australia. Then he enlists and becomes a stretcher bearer and musician for the Australian Army and lives into old age, showing compassion to a young boy who is beaten by his father, becoming a read father to him.
It's an interesting story of redemption and complicated life that made me think, though the writing style somehow left me cold.