Synopsis
Alice is thirty-eight. She has a house, a husband, two teenage children and a part-time job. She thinks she ought to be happy. But she isn't. Instead, she feels she has vanished, that she is like something lost down the back of the sofa. Because Alice has a secret which is never spoken of in the family as they are all ashamed, Alice most of all. Alice can't read. Then two things happen. Her son, Craig, brings home his school's leather-clad bad boy, a terrible influence. And Alice 's friend Liz tells her she's tired of feeling sorry for her and trying to help. Alice - timid, quiet Alice - must start out on her own brave journey and for it she chooses the strangest companion. For the first time in her life, she knows what she wants and she is going to get it. With the help of the book boy.



Kathy Arkwright (United Kingdom) (2011/04/26):
Thoroughly enjoyed this book, a really good read.



Marianne (Australia) (2013/04/15):
The Book Boy is a novella by British author, Joanna Trollope, and is part of the Quick Reads series. Alice is thirty-eight, married to the bullying Ed, mother of Craig and Beck and working as a cleaner in a corner convenience store. Alice’s secret shame is that she cannot read, but attitudes and events decide her: she will finally do something about it. Her methods are unconventional, however, and she has her family and friends concerned. This novella is written in a very simplistic style: the reader might wonder if Trollope has actually written it for adults who are learning to read. It has an uplifting conclusion.