The Bastard Boy

by James Wilson

On a quest for his lost nephew, an 18th-century Englishman journeys across America, before finally discovering the startling truth about the "bastard boy". This is a swashbuckling historical adventure from the author of "The Dark Clue".

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

JAMES WILSON was born and brought up near Cambridge, and studied History at Oxford University. He now divides his time between London and France.

In 1975 James received a Ford Foundation grant to research and write The Original Americans: US Indians, for the Minority Rights in London. Over the next twenty-five years he travelled widely in the US and Canada, working on – among other projects – a number of radio and TV documentaries, including the award-winning Savagery and the American Indian and The Two Worlds of the Innu, both for the BBC. His critically-acclaimed history of Native Americans, The Earth Shall Weep, was published by Picador in the UK in 1998, and by Grove/Atlantic in the US the following year. In 2000, it won a Myers Outstanding Book award. James continues to serve as a member of the executive committee of Survival, an international organization campaigning for the rights of indigenous peoples worldwide.

James is the author of four novels, all published by Faber & Faber: The Dark Clue (described by Allan Massie in The Scotsman as ‘wonderfully entertaining’, and by The Washington Post as ‘a stunning first novel’); The Bastard Boy (longlisted for the IMPAC Award); The Woman in the Picture (‘multi-layered, deeply absorbing and entertaining’ – The Times; ‘A superb achievement’ – Kevin Brownlow); and Consolation (‘an animated, haunting and surprisingly uplifting novel’ – The Observer).

A fifth novel, The Summer of Broken Stories, will be published by Alma Books in April 2015.

You can visit James online at jameswilsonauthor.com, and on Twitter at @jcwilsonauthor.

Reviews

[Nick Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I live in Bristol - so I read the early sections of this book set in the heart of the 18th century port city with a critical eye. And I have to report that I was completely won over. The quest that launches and sustains the whole narrative is underpinned by the most wonderful sense of life and attitudes on the eve of the war with the American colonies. I read this when it first came out, and subsequent readings of accounts of 18th century elections & the Bristol mob have only confirmed the vividness of the picture that Wilson draws. And then the action transfers to the colonial frontier of North America - and we meet a procession of characters that Mark Twain must be green with envy over. Read the account of the destruction of the Indian settlement without a lump in your throat and - well, you can't! An amazing read.

[Judith Yeabsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not normally a fan of historical fiction I became engrossed in this book as it was primarily character based. The historical context was beautifully woven into the story and it was a great depiction of the US at the time of the Boston Tea Party. Although the lead character was terminally frustrating through the course of the book one develops more and more respect and affection for him. Some good twists in the plot and a brutal social comment of the times and the British class system.

[Julia Wherlock · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional read. Maybe I'm biase because it all starts in Bristol, but this was rivetting stuff. Bristol and Native Americans. I'm in heaven!

[Serge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not an easy reading. It took me two months late at night and early mornings. The author has a large vocabulary and a quick mind in argumenting, describing thoughts and feelings, twisting, turning and deepening the plot. These complexities led me to the experience I could not get deeper into my imagination to make it really happen there. I was too busy understanding what was written. The war chapter with the Cherokee people sprung out for me as the most interesting one.
And of course the idea that all people are equal before God, I fully subscribe with my mind and my heart, though in the 18th century that was a very far away imagination in the colonial world.
I would like to thank James for the many new English words I learned and those few Cherokee words I cherish.

[Marcus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Die Idee mit dem „Buch im Buch“ fand ich schon ganz abgefahren. Aber aus der Story hätte man mehr machen können. Ich hab auch immer ein Problem, wenn ein Haufen Leute „mitspielen“ & ich die nicht mehr auseinanderhalten kann, weil die einzelnen Protagonisten nicht scharf genug gezeichnet worden. Aber das hab ich auch oft bei andern Büchern.
Was ich sehr interessant fand, war das Leben der Siedler kurz vor dem Unabhängigkeitskrieg, was ich sonst bisher weder in einem anderen Buch, noch in einem Film so detailliert gekannt hatte.

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilson's first rate novel plays intriguingly on that key novelistic and literary question: who is actually writing? This sets it far apart from standard historical fiction and takes us back to the origins of the novel as a form. Everything follows from here: the move to Bristol and the journey to a recently colonised and war-torn America. A vivid powerful, very intelligent and unusual book that casts new light both on its subject matter and on the business of writing fiction.

[Tara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up this book because it had such an unusual setting. But I found that it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. The story wanders around for a while, and I found the conclusion a bit lacking. I found I was reading it just to see what happened in the hope that it'd get better. It didn't.
Which is a pity really...it could have been great!

[Powersamurai · Rating 4 out of 5]

A man locked up in a room with nothing to do, but tell his story. He eventually realises that telling his story may be his ticket out and earnestly gives details of his adventures. Eager to find out exactly who was reading his memoirs and if they freed him, or not, I found myself rushing at the end to see how the loose ends are twisted and tied.

[Oriana Wilmott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this, a really cracking read which drives you along with it, but is also full of humanity and wisdom. The key character is a wonderful mixture of foolishness and warmth.

[Jane Wilson-Howarth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started this but the author didn't interest me in the period of history and I found I didn't care enough about the characters to finish the book.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great but a really good read