Product Description

Nine-year-old Louis Drax is a problem child: bright, precocious, deceitful, and dangerously, disturbingly, accident prone. When he falls off a cliff into a ravine, the accident seems almost predestined. Louis miraculously survives - but the family has been shattered. Louis' father has vanished, his mother is paralysed by shock, and Louis lies in a deep coma from which he may never emerge. In a clinic in Provence, Dr Pascal Dannachet tries to coax Louis back to consciousness. But the boy defies medical logic, startling Dannachet out of his safe preconceptions, and drawing him inexorably into the dark heart of Louis' buried world. Only Louis holds the key to the mystery surrounding his fall - and he can't communicate. Or can he?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26966 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review
'A remarkable suspense novel: tart, mysterious and wrenching' Anthony Minghella, Academy Award-winning director 'This is a wonderfully unsettling psychological thriller An oddly beautiful journey into the darkest corners of the human soul' Mail on Sunday 'Shocking, moving and beautifully written, The Ninth Life Of Louis Drax is an extraordinary novel about family mystery and medical marvels' Image 'A gripping psychological thriller with a gothic flavour unputdownable The Ninth Life of Louis Drax contains many heart-stopping moments where the tension is cranked up almost to breaking point' Daily Telegraph

Image
‘Shocking, moving and beautifully written, it is an extraordinary novel about family mystery and medical marvels’

Independent on Sunday
‘Emotionally compelling, morally fascinating … breathtaking. It has more suspense than many thrillers’

Customer Reviews

Entertainment to the very last page
After 24 reveiws on this book so far there isn't really much more to be said and re-trodden. I was fasinated by the story of Louis and his family, the doctors and other cast members. A gripping read that is set in France, which was strange at first (why France?) but part of the setting for the story, I think, wouldn't work too well in the UK. Some of the writing style is a little bit wacky but this is overcome by the compulsive need to finish the book, reading into the small hours!

An interesting and excellent tale all round - highly recommended to anyone who enjoys a good paced thriller.

wonderful
In my opinion this is writing as its best. Completly unputdownable and exquisitely written.Liz Jensen is probably the most original writer I have read for years, Her books are all completly different and this one is at the very top of my list. I loved every word.

Arresting idea but ultimately unsatisfying.
Although the general premise is good, there seems to be something missing. You don't find yourself caring about the characters, you just want to know what happened. It is the literary equivalent of eating weetabix at two in the morning. You don't really love it but you may as well eat it as you've nothing else in. I've started so I'll finish kind of thing. If that makes sense.Natalie Drax appears as an outline and not fully formed as a character so it seems mad to think Dannochet would be madly in love with her. This love also spawned one of the worst lines in the book. Dannochet is describing Natalie Draxs'eyes and he says something like 'They were the colour of the Provence hillside after rain in winter.' Purlese. I had to stop and recover after that one.
Ah well. On the plus side when Jenson writes as Louis, it's really very good and feels authentic.