Bewilderment
£9.99
Theo Byrne is a promising young astrobiologist who has found a way to search for life on other planets dozens of light years away. He is also the widowed father of a most unusual nine-year-old. His son Robin is funny, loving, and filled with plans. He thinks and feels deeply, adores animals, and can spend hours painting elaborate pictures. He is also on the verge of being expelled from third grade, for smashing his friend’s face with a metal thermos. What can a father do, when the only solution offered to his rare and troubled boy is to put him on psychoactive drugs? What can he say when his boy comes to him wanting an explanation for a world that is clearly in love with its own destruction? The only thing for it is to take the boy to other planets, while all the while fostering his son’s desperate campaign to help save this one.
**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**
**SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2021**
A father. A son. A bewildering world.
Discover the breath-taking new novel from the million-copy bestselling author of The Overstory.
‘The love between son and father has an emotional truth that wrings the heart’ Guardian
Theo Byrne is a promising young scientist who has found a way to search for life on other planets dozens of light years away. He is also the widowed father of a most unusual nine-year-old. His son Robin is funny, loving and filled with plans. He thinks and feels deeply, adores animals and can spend hours painting elaborate pictures. But after a violent outburst from Robin at school, the strength of their close bond will be tested to its limits…
What can a father do, when those around him refuse to understand his rare and troubled child? And how can he reveal to his boy the truth about our beautiful, bewildered world?
‘This book had me in tears’ Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch
‘Refreshing, original and moving’ Evening Standard
‘It is impossible to deny the importance of Powers’ message’ Sunday Times
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