William Parker (8)

This is one of the most engaging books I've read all year. The character of Ben is prone, innocent and ultimately quite intriguing. Struggling to cope with life at the great British boarding school in the 1960s, and trying to hide his mother's alcoholism from his classmates, he finds himself bound up with secrets and eventually collapses under the strain. I found this book to be more honest than I expect fiction to be; his emotions were tangible throughout Parker's writing and as a result, I show more kept thinking about it in between readings and got through the entire thing in under a day. Definitely one of the year's best reads. show less

This is a truly stunning book. It captivated me from the first page and I found myself totally immersed in the story of Ben Teasdale.

Ben has secrets to keep. His mother's addiction to sherry, the bedwetting he is so ashamed of and the contents of the blue folder he discovered by accident in his music teacher's car.

We are first introduced to Ben as a grown man approaching fifty with his own alcohol addiction. An embarrassing accident, following a chance meeting with an old school friend, show more forces Ben to rethink his life and we meet up with him at his boarding school when he is aged just eight. It is this child's voice which is so endearing and moving. I laughed and cried and related to this character for my own personal reasons and was transported back to my school days in the sixties. Revealing your emotions is not on the cards in such an environment, but the only teacher who seems to understand and empathise with Ben's unhappiness is removed from the school. Listening to Ben yearning for his fragile and damaged mother, holding on to his teddy bear's paw in the darkness of his dormitory, and dreading waking up to find wet sheets is heart rending. You are willing him to have the strength to overcome all the difficulties he is facing. I found myself caring deeply about his life and how things would turn out for him despite all his struggles.

This book is, without doubt, the finest book I have read this year and I have read a fair few! I really hope that it achieves the success it deserves and if I could have given it more than 5 stars....I would have done.

Thank you to LT for giving me the opportunity to discover this novel through Early Reviewers and I hope it is the first of a few....or many...from William Parker. show less

We meet Ben Teasdale initially when he is in his fifties, single and gay, but very soon we are in the hands of the young pre-teen Ben during his English prep-school days. We follow Ben as a youngster through prep-school and again, more briefly as a fifteen year old preparing for his O Levels, with occasional interjections from the mature Ben today.

Ben has a privileged yet troubled childhood, he has his own secrets that must not be revealed for fear of humiliation, then there is the secret show more concerning My England, his favourite teacher which will bring its own problems. His father is rather distant and his mother is very close, but she too has her problems. All these worries build up on the young Ben until they culminated in a notorious episode at school, one for which he will be long remembered.

My initial reaction after the first few pages of reading The House Martin and meeting the regularly inebriated mature and solitary Ben was here is a man I do not have much sympathy for; and when the young Ben took over the narration I wondered if I could take listening to the voice of a ten year old for almost the entire novel. But very soon my opinion changed. William Parker so beautifully captures the tone of the well educated prep-schoolboy that it becomes a delight to read. Ben is a thoroughly endearing lad, open and honest despite the secrets that must be kept. His occasional yet not frequent misuse of words adds a touch of humour to the proceedings (I won't reveal what he misunderstands as cubic!), and makes the earnest youngster all the more appealing.

Even the mature Ben changes during the course of events, and with a better understanding of him as a youngster I found myself empathising with him and caring about him.

After a doubtful start, I thoroughly enjoyed reading The House Martin, it is beautifully written, and captures perfectly the mind and voice of the young Ben. It is an enchanting and positive story, highly recommended. show less

The Housemartin by William Parker was a very enjoyable read. In particular, I appreciated the judicial use of references to significant, scandalous events from the past. Certain events were mentioned just enough to continue to pique interest, without the reader feeling that the only interesting part of the plot is being withheld. Parker is adept at using his main character, Ben’s, description of his surroundings to convey feelings of waiting, anxiety, sadness, and relief. Specifically, the show more incredibly detailed description of the hall in which Ben waits for his mother, “Mummy’, to collect him for a surprise lunch visit rings true with a meticulous attention to detail that someone might employ when willing time to pass more quickly, to slow down, or both, as in Ben’s case. Even though some of characters in the book seem to be somewhat stereotypical to coming of age boarding school fiction – the stern but kind matron and the bullying upper form boys- Parker steers his main characters on a more interesting and complex course than many novels in that genre. show less