Young Tom (Valancourt 20th Century Classics)

One of the most original and most perfect works of imagination of our time - Edwin Muir The Listener A unique achievement in modern literature - John Boyd It has a charm and freshness it is beautifully written - James Hanley New English WeeklyYoung Tom (1944) completes the trilogy of novels featuring Tom Barber which began with Uncle Stephen (1931) and The Retreat (1936) and it is probably Forrest Reids finest achievement. Acclaim from contemporary critics was unanimous and the book won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize as the best novel of the year. In many ways ten-year-old Tom is like other boys: his life centres on his parents school and his best friend Pascoe. But he also has another existence equally real in his dreams and imagination. In this novel we follow him as he plays with his three canine companions Barker Pincher and Roger befriends and communicates with a rat and a squirrel and tries to find out what happened to Ralph Seaford the dead boy whose ghost now haunts Toms grandmothers attic. In exquisite prose without sentimentality exaggeration or a single false note Reid brings to life Tom his greatest creation and accomplishes the difficult feat of allowing readers to revisit and experience anew the wonders and mysteries of childhood. This edition features a new introduction by Andrew Doyle and a selection of never-before-published photographs.