The Children of Dynmouth

by William Trevor

Book Overview

A small, pretty seaside town is harshly exposed by a young boy's curiosity. His prudent interest, oddly motivated, leaves few people unaffected - and the consequences cannot be ignored.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140047182
• ISBN13: 9780140047189
• Release Date: October 1995
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.1" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Master Storyteller

This is the story of a 15 year old boy in a small English coastal town who learns about other members of the town and their misdeeds by spying on them. He seems to have a one track mind about what he wants and how to get it by blackmailing and spreading vicious rumors. You really want to strangle this kid or hope one of the victims of his spying will do it for you. Is this kid possessed by a demon? Are the claims he makes of his neighbors really true? And does this boy really have any kind of future? You almost can't wait till the end to find out! William Trevor is a master storyteller.

A Whimsical Trevor for once

William Trevor continues to lead the pack as my favourite living author throughout the world. His frugal use of the most precise language leaves a reader gasping at times, and he is an unparallelled master tragedian. Here, he has actually crafted a fairly humourous, if naughty, tale of a teenage "tearaway," as he himself might call the lad. Trevor imbues this lonesome council lad with some rather astonishing powers of perception that, once put to work with the singlemindedness reserved solely for what one really really wants, results in a domino effect of despair and destruction that washes over a small, raw, seaside Southern UK town. It remains funny throughout, however, a testament not only to Trevor's many gifts as a story-teller of genius and power but to his love for his flawed characters and thier powers of endurance.

Trevor at his sharpest - bitter and sweet.

This darkly funny expose of a British seaside town in the mid 70's is Trevor at his absolute best. Tim Gedge, the maladjusted anti-hero at the centre of the action, is a 12 year old boy with time on his hands and a determination to uncover the secret heartaches and hypocricies at the core of this trim English town. The details are razor sharp, the characters painfully portrayed, and the humour is very, very black - but there is a soul to this story - as there always is with Trevor. It tells you more about us sorry Brits than Notes from a Small Island ever could.