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Little Boy Lost (Persephone Classics) [Paperback]

Marghanita Laski (Author), Anne Sebba (Introduction)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.00
Price: £6.89 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Book Description

Publication Date: 23 Oct 2008 | Series: Persephone Classics (Book 28)
Hilary Wainwright, poet and intellectual, returns after the
war to a blasted and impoverished France in order to trace a child lost
five years before. ... It's extraordinarily gripping: it has the
page-turning compulsion of a thriller while at the same time being written
with perfect clarity and precision.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Little Boy Lost (Persephone Classics) + Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (Persephone Classics) + Someone at a Distance (Persephone Classics)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Persephone Books Ltd (23 Oct 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1906462054
  • ISBN-13: 978-1906462055
  • Product Dimensions: 13.8 x 1.8 x 19.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 91,798 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Marghanita Laski Page
Marghanita Laski
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

Product Description

Review

'Had it not got so nerve-wracking towards the end, I would have read it in one go...This is haunting stuff.' -- The Guardian, Nicholas Lezard, October 2001

'Little Boy Lost is a gem.' -- The Jewish Chronicle, Jonathan Self, October 2001 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Facing him was a thin little boy in a black sateen overall. Its sleeves were too short and from them dangled red swollen hands too big for the frail wrists. Hilary looked from these painful hands to the little boy's long thin grubby legs, to the crude coarse socks falling over shabby black boots that were surely several sizes too large. It's a foreign child, he thought numbly, and then let himself look at the small white face turned towards him, a lock of black hair falling from a travesty of a parting over enormous dark eyes that stared imploringly into his.
He knew that he should have moved towards the child, greeted him naturally and with friendliness. But he could only stand and stare with horror and replusion, saying wildly to himself, 'Why does he look at me like that? He doesn't know why I'm here. Why does he look at me like that?' --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
24 reviews
4.8 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
58 of 59 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Orphans of war 20 Sep 2001
By Lynette Baines VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
This wonderful book is the story of a man's search for his son, lost in France during WWII. On a deeper level, it is the story of a man's search for himself, rediscovering his capacity for love after the experiences of war. Hilary Wainwright saw his son John just once, the day after he was born in Paris. Hilary's wife Lisa was working for the Resistance and was captured and killed by the Gestapo when John was a baby, and the child disappeared. After the war, Hilary is contacted by Pierre, a friend of Lisa's, with news of a child who may be John. Hilary sets out to find this child. His search takes him through the devastated French countryside to the small town where the child lives in an orphanage. Hilary's growing relationship with little Jean (the name given to the child) is very moving. Hilary's resistance to love, to being hurt again is vividly portrayed. Jean is a delightful child, a representative of the many thousands of children left orphaned and lost by war. The reader longs for these two lost souls to fall into each other's arms. By the end of the novel, I didn't care whether Jean was Hilary's son or not. The unsentimental yet deeply moving style of the novel is totally engrossing, once started, I could hardly bear put it down.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars I could have cried... 2 Mar 2007
By A. Hope
Format:Paperback
...and I don't cry over books as a rule. I don't know quite how to describe this lovely book - execept to say it is almost unbearably poignant at times. Originally published in 1949 - it tells the story of Hilary Wainwright and the search for his young son. In 1942 Hilary learns his son - who he believed was being cared for by a woman in occupied France, and who had rescued the child following Hilary's wife's death - is in fact lost, possibly somewhere in France. In 1945 Hilary goes in search of his son, with the help of a french man Pierre. But Hilary is a tortured soul - a poet - he now finds himself resistant to feelings of love since his wifes death, and wonders if he really wants this child at all. I found this such a wonderfuly moving book, and one that at times made me furious too, and I had to put it down and walk away from it at times. It is however hugely memorable, and the sort of book I will read again.
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favourite books... ever 2 May 2006
By H. Nash
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I can't begin to praise this book enough. I am a critical reader and I read a lot, and for this to be in my top ten it has to be something special. I keep on recommending it; to be honest, I beg people to read it because it it so good - and it's short, so quick to read! It is beautifully written, restrained and controlled in style, as it deals with a man's search for his missing son. This war-damaged man, bereaved and unable to express love, is as moving a creation as the little boy, Jean, who may be his son. The scenes where they go for walks together, especially when the man gives the boy a gift, are touching and yet never sentimental. The picture of post-war France is also unforgettable. It is impossible to put down and also has one of the most perfect (ie fitting) endings I have ever read (So many books just don't end well...). Once you've read and enjoyed it, try more Persephone books - they are fantastic!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A rewarding read.
This book reaches out and involves the reader from the beginning, and when Jean appears in his miserable and stark surroundings it becomes essential to find out what is happeninbg... Read more
Published 10 days ago by ailsa watson
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, astonishing and very touching
Another remarkable book rescued by the Persephone label.

The main story is the search by Hilary Wainwright for his son, last seen on the day of his birth in Paris in... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Donald Hughes
3.0 out of 5 stars not my cup of tea
It was readable, but by the end I was really annoyed with the central character. Maybe this was the author's intent, as I think she was trying to show the kind of emotional void... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Annie Burrows
4.0 out of 5 stars In 1945 his father came to look for him...
This is quite a short read, more a novella really, but for all that it is haunting, poignant and one of the most affecting books I've read. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Eileen Shaw
5.0 out of 5 stars A gem uncovered
I think the cover of this book is very poignant- to my mind this is what Hilary looks like. Post second world war II Hilary, a poet, comes over from England to France reluctantly... Read more
Published 10 months ago by SACB
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book
I read this book years ago and found it very moving. Though short it is a beautifully written novel and the bleakness of post war France is brilliantly conveyed as is the... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Ann M
5.0 out of 5 stars A most enjoyable read
I thought this book was really charming and portrays post-second-war France vividly. We have just read it in the our Book Club and it provoked a lot of discussion as, even though... Read more
Published 15 months ago by AnnM52
5.0 out of 5 stars little boy lost
A beautifully written book which has an amazing ending
Thoroughly recommend this book as it searches the inner
soul of a man.
Published 17 months ago by jem
5.0 out of 5 stars Lives forever!
This is one of those books that lives in the memory forever. I first read it when at school and it has been with me ever since. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Auntie Sue
5.0 out of 5 stars A very emotional read
Little Boy Lost is the second book I've read by Marghanita Laski - the first was The Victorian Chaise-Longue. However, I found the two books entirely different. Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2011 by Helen
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