Mobile Library

Description

"Engagingly offbeat . . . the van becomes as much of a vehicle of fantasy as the Little Prince's biplane or James's giant peach. . . genuinely compelling." Guardian Twelve-year-old Bobby Nusku is an archivist of his mother. He catalogues traces of her life and waits for her to return home. Bobby thinks that he's been left to face the world alone until he meets lonely single mother Val and her daughter Rosa. They spend a magical summer together, discovering the books in the mobile library where Val works as a cleaner. But as the summer draws to a close, Bobby finds himself in trouble and Val is in danger of losing her job. There's only one thing to do -- and so they take to the road in the mobile library... Quirky, dark, magical and full of heart, Mobile Library is both a tragicomic road trip and a celebration of the adventures that books can take us on. It's a love-letter to unlikely families and the stories that shaped us. PRAISE FOR DAVID WHITEHOUSE "Powerful, eccentric . . . Whitehouse's writing is energetic and pacey, spiked with startling moments of tenderness and superbly controlled. Don't wait for the inevitable film." The Times "Whitehouse cleverly illustrates the way in which lives and books intertwine." Daily Mail

David Whitehouse is an award-winning novelist, journalist and screenwriter. His first novel, Bed, won the 2012 Betty Trask Award and was published in 14 languages. David writes regularly for the Guardian and The Times and is editor-at-large of ShortList magazine. Originally from Warwickshire, he now lives in London.

Engagingly offbeat . . . the van becomes as much of a vehicle of fantasy as the Little Prince's biplane or James's giant peach - both a sanctuary from the outside world and a store of limitless possibilities . . . quietly profound . . . genuinely compelling * Guardian * Whitehouse cleverly illustrates the way in which lives and books intertwine * Daily Mail * Powerful, eccentric . . . Whitehouse's writing is energetic and pacey, spiked with startling moments of tenderness and superbly controlled. Don't wait for the inevitable film * The Times * A beautifully written ode to childhood innocence * Marie Claire * The quirkiest plot we've seen for a while . . . making for a magical literary tour that evokes how the books we read as children inspire us. Heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal measure * Glamour * The story is smart, gripping and deeply moving; the characters are exquisitely crafted and magically real, and it's written with an almost poetic beauty. Put simply, it's everything a book should be . . . stunning . . . engaging and wholly enchanting * Heat * Book lovers will be charmed by Mobile Library . . . It's a funny coming-of-age tale * Good Housekeeping * A modern day fairytale . . . a plot that bounds along, dramatic event after dramatic event . . . It's also fun . . . The message becomes clear: stories can save us, unite us, show us other ways of being, offer solace . . . as messages go, it's a sound one, an example of the open-hearted warmth at the core of this book * Financial Times * A paean to the transformative power of books * Harpers Bazaar * Whitehouse's world is just off-centre of the real one, skewed with a dusting of magic realism and underpinned by fairy tales . . . This is a thoughtful, kind-hearted and original book * Emerald Street * Whitehouse makes you feel what it's like to be 12 again: the obsessions, the fears, the boundless curiosity. Heartwarming and heartbreaking, sometimes in the space of one page, it's a wise and wondrous reminder just how far a library card can take you . . . Mobile Library is full of heart; it's a novel I can see myself returning to many times in the future . . . has such a big heart its pages seem to emanate warmth * Stylist * Full of heart and hope and absurd bravery, as three lost souls and Bert the dog run away from home in a stolen mobile library. They then set about creating their own kind of family and rewriting the stories of their lives . . . the writer's charismatic, sparky tale of salvation and the stories within stories brilliantly shows how adventure can overtake and transform the most unlikely of people * Sunday Express * Brilliant. Every page is filled with beautifully crafted sentences in a story replete with pathos and humour -- Hannah Beckerman, author of THE DEAD WIFE'S HANDBOOK * Huffington Post * Original and quirky, Mobile Library is a startling story that gripped me until the very last page. A wonderful novel -- Juliet West, author of BEFORE THE FALL Mobile Library is an excellent novel about the power of words and how stories can help us transcend loss, loneliness and being an outsider. Whitehouse's ability to mix laughs with pathos makes for a warm-hearted book about family and a love letter to the importance of libraries -- Nikesh Shukla, author of COCONUT UNLIMITED I loved this novel. The story of Bobby Nusku and all of the people drawn into his journey over the course of English woodland and a crumbling aristocratic pile in Scotland is so compelling and tenderly drawn. Mobile Library is mobile loveliness, and you'll want to take it with you wherever you go -- Naomi Wood, author of MRS HEMINGWAY