Never Again

Description

The story of a young boy growing up in India and England, by Booker-prize long-listed author Francis King. In this evocative and disturbing novel, Hugh has his comfortable childhood in the shadow of the Himalayas torn apart by the tragic death of both his parents in a house fire. After their deaths, he finds himself in the care of the childless wife of one of their friends, before being sent back to England to boarding school and the care of an aunt. He is ill-at-ease at the school, haunted by the spectre of India and eventually finding some solace by befriending another boy who is the son of a wealthy baronet. When this friend falls seriously ill and leaves, he struggles to cope with the rigours of the school before realising this friendship offers him a chance for a way out. A haunting and beautifully observed portrait of personal tragedy in the shadow of colonial India, Never Again is a poignant coming of age story that deserves a wider audience.

Born in Switzerland, Francis King spent his childhood in India, where his father was a government official. While still an undergraduate at Oxford he published his first three novels. He then joined the British Council, working in Italy, Greece, Egypt, Finland and Japan, before he resigned to devote himself entirely to writing. For some years he was drama critic for the Sunday Telegraph and he reviewed fiction regularly for the Spectator. He won the Somerset Maugham Prize, the Katherine Mansfield Prize and the Yorkshire Post Novel of the Year Award for Act of Darkness (1983). His penultimate book, The Nick of Time, was long-listed for the 2003 Man Booker Prize. Francis King died in 2011. "One of our great writers, of the calibre of Graham Greene and Nabokov." Beryl Bainbridge

One of our great writers, of the calibre of Graham Greene and Nabokov. -- Beryl Bainbridge He deserves the widest possible readership. -- Melvyn Bragg Punch Mr. King is, of course, an extremely skilful writer. All his characters are credible, all worth observing. -- Auberon Waugh Evening Standard No one writes better prose than Francis King. -- Ruth Rendell