Coram Boy
Book • 2015
Winner of the 2001 Whitbread Award, Coram Boy weaves together multiple narratives set in the mid-1700s.
The story follows Meshak Gardiner, a mentally disabled young man whose father Otis deceives desperate mothers by promising to deliver their illegitimate children to Coram Hospital, a newly-created facility for abandoned children, but instead murders infants and sells older children into slavery.
Parallel to this dark narrative are the stories of Alexander Ashbrook, a wealthy heir who abandons his inheritance to pursue music, and Aaron, a musically talented boy raised at Coram Hospital whose life becomes entangled with these characters in unexpected ways.
The novel explores themes of social class, moral corruption, family reputation, and the devastating consequences of societal expectations.
The story follows Meshak Gardiner, a mentally disabled young man whose father Otis deceives desperate mothers by promising to deliver their illegitimate children to Coram Hospital, a newly-created facility for abandoned children, but instead murders infants and sells older children into slavery.
Parallel to this dark narrative are the stories of Alexander Ashbrook, a wealthy heir who abandons his inheritance to pursue music, and Aaron, a musically talented boy raised at Coram Hospital whose life becomes entangled with these characters in unexpected ways.
The novel explores themes of social class, moral corruption, family reputation, and the devastating consequences of societal expectations.
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