First published 1979
Miraculously surviving the London Blitz, young Matty emerges scarred and orphaned, haunted by the shadows of his past. As he navigates a world that shuns his disfigurement, Matty becomes a wandering prophet, his journal a window into the darkness within. Crossing paths with a teacher consumed by perversion, and twins whose angelic looks mask monstrous cruelty, Matty's path leads him deeper into the abyss. Can he find redemption, or will the "weirdness" of life consume him?
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, dark-fantasy, dark
Vibes: dark, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: moral-ambiguity, outsider-protagonist, redemption-arc
Setting: Great Britain, England
280 pages · Paperback · Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Content warnings: mental-illness, physical-abuse, violence