Product Description

Ro and Marcus have swapped London Life for a cottage in a peaceful country village. They want a safe, peaceful environment for their young son. At least, Marcus does. Secretly, Ro wonders how she'll cope with cowpats and snorting livestock. What Marcus and Ro agree on is the fact that their son isn't like most boys of his age. Tod is obsessed with mazes. He designs them, dreams about them, demands to visit them. When a newcomer threatens the 'best-kept' village status by allowing his garden to grow wild, Marcus starts a log of the lawn's height and condition. As the newcomer becomes the first friend her son has ever had, Ro is faced with a life-changing decision! Wonderboy is a story about what happens when a couple downshifts to the country, with a child who is scared of any animal bigger than a hamster. Can marriage survive when a man buys his wife a hoe for her birthday? And is the countryside any place to bring up a kid?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #126450 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
Praise for Fiona Gibson: 'Fans of rueful social comedy will chortle over the escapades of Rue, who heads to the country with her husband, Marcus, and their son, Tod, in search of a more laid-back lifestyle ... witty expose of the perils and pitfalls of relocation.' Elle on WONDERBOY 20050101 'Touching' Heat on WONDERBOY 20050101 'Comforting reading for harassed commuters considering downsizing' Marie Claire on WONDERBOY 20050101 'A funny, warm, compelling and wonderfully observed novel, hilarious to singletons and mothers alike' MARIE CLAIRE 20050101 'Babyface is enthralling. Gibson's original voice is at once comic and accurate' ADELE PARKS 20050101 'A fantastic debut. More than funny, it's true' LOUISE BAGSHAWE 20050101

About the Author
Fiona Gibson is a freelance journalist who has written for many publications including the Observer, the Guardian, Red and Marie Claire. She was previously the editor of More! magazine. She is the mother of three small children and lives in Lanarkshire. This is her second novel.

Customer Reviews

Wonderboy is wonderful
I really enjoyed this book. Fiona Gibson draws characters beautifully and constant subtle observations make them ring so true. The boy Tod at the centre of the story, and of his mother's universe, is a touchstone to everything else that happens and his obsession with mazes is a fine metaphor for the mental mazes that Ro, his mother attempts to negotiate throughout the book. It is written with a gentle humour which balances the sadness of her deteriorating relationship with her husband and her fears for her rather odd but brilliant and touching little boy.

Wonderstuff!!
Even better than her first book, 'Babyface', Wonderboy sees Fiona really find her writing style. Her observation of characters and how they behave is pin-sharp and often hugely funny, yet her style still manages to be slightly wistful and melancholy. Anyone with children will wince with recognition at some of the situations, but that doesn't mean it's a parents-only book - if you've read any of Fiona's work in the numerous magazines she's written for you'll be thrilled to be able to get a bigger dose of her characteristic wit, and if you haven't, it's time you caught up!

Wonderful Wonderboy!
Fiona Gibson's writing is so immediate and accessible it feels a bit like listening to a particularly witty and well-loved friend. In Wonderboy, the narrator is thirty-something Ro, whose property-agent husband Marcus persuades her to give up her job in a London film archive and move to a best-kept village in the commuter belt, supposedly so that their six-year-old son, Tod, will be happier and unbothered by classroom bullies. But like Tod, Ro is a misfit, and she resents suddenly being flung into the role of "boss of renovations" for their musty country home. Ro's uncertain attitude to her nosy neighbours and the demands of village life (smart borders, and the ability to run up a fancy dress costume at short notice) makes her a very real character; self-doubting, at times self-deprecating, and unsure how to confront her husband who is spending more time in the town than with her in the country. ("He used to get me going with heart-shaped pralines hidden under my pillow. Now he tantalises me with stern messages that read: Ro! Urgent. Call oil.") But at the heart of the book is the tender portrait of Tod, the eccentric son Ro so badly wants to protect. Gibson has a true gift for capturing the humour and pathos of parenting.