Coram Boy

By Jamila Gavin

A son defies his brutal father to save an abandoned infant in 18th-century England.

3.8/5 Goodreads · 2,510 ratings

336 pages· 83,673 words· Est. 8 hour read

$19.00Save 7%

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Bookroo's summary

In 18th-century England, Meshak, the oppressed son of a ruthless child trafficker, discovers an infant he must save. Unbeknownst to Alexander, a disinherited aristocrat, this child is his own. As Meshak risks everything, a web of secrets and betrayals unfolds, challenging the bonds of family and the depths of devotion. Can Meshak defy his father's cruelty and alter the fate of the innocent? This gripping tale explores the dark underbelly of society, where hope and redemption fight to survive.

From the publisher

2000 Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year Published to acclaim in the United Kingdom, this stunning historical novel delves into a hidden side of eighteenth-century England: the world of infanticide and child slavery. Otis Gardiner, the Coram man, makes a vicious living disposing of the unwanted children and illegitimate offspring of distraught young women, rich and poor. Meshak is Otis’s oppressed, simpleminded son, who finally discovers an infant he considers special enough to risk saving out of the hundreds who have succumbed to his father’s brutality. The infant’s father is Alexander Ashbrook, a brilliant young aristocrat disinherited by his family for his devotion to a forbidden career, who is astonishingly unaware that he even has a son, much less that he has abandoned him. Around this trio and a host of other characters swirls Jamila Gavin’s carefully orchestrated plot, in this disturbing, ultimately uplifting novel about sons and fathers, abuse and abandonment, treachery and devotion.

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