The Missing Boy by Rachel Billington
Thirteen-year-old Dan hasn't returned home and his parents don't know whether he's run away, been kidnapped - or something worse. For one family the world as they know it is about to fall apart. At first Dan is sleeping rough, revelling in his independence. But with every passing day, his world is becoming darker and more frightening. A hundred thousand children run away each year. Most come back. But will Dan? Dan's mother, Eve, a drama teacher, can't focus; his father, Max, only knows how to flee his own demons; and his aunt, Martha, while trained to control difficult situations as a prison officer, struggles to hold it all together. Dan's story is told against a grown-up drama of love and shifting loyalties and two sisters who were best friends until Max came between them. Gradually, all three begin to recognise just how badly they have failed the missing boy. Rachel Billington has written a tense and emotional novel about the day-to-day existence of a contemporary family living through their worst nightmare. Anguish and hope move across the pages until the final breath-taking denouement.
"It's highly readable and is written with wisdom and compassion" -- Kate Saunders THE TIMES "Dan is a subtle study; his vulnerability, his innocence, his resourceful intelligence and his dawning moral sense are wonderfully convincing" -- Charlotte Moore DAILY TELEGRAPH "This easy-to-read tale is moving and poignant" STAR MAGAZINE "Billington explores the difficulties of growing up and growing older with exquisite attention to detail" SHE "Sacrifice.. combined with the suggestion that through suffering Eve, Max and Martha are brought to a state of greater love, understanding and honesty, is really the moral heart of the novel" -- Diana Hendry THE SPECTATOR "a well-wrought, honest book that is generous with its insights and tender in all the right places." -- Jane Housham DAILY EXPRESS "Billington keeps the tension rising, and it all feels horribly believable" -- Lucy Atkins SUNDAY TIMES "Tautly written and well paced, this is a very readable novel about a difficult and all too common situation" GOOD BOOK GUIDE
Rachel Billington has published many novels. She has been President of PEN, and is co-editor of INSIDE TIME, the national newspaper for prisoners. She is married to the director Kevin Billington.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781409111375 |
| ISBN 10 | 1409111377 |
| Title | The Missing Boy |
| Author | Rachel Billington |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Orion Publishing Co |
| Year published | 2010-05-27 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |