The Boy in the Field

A Novel

De: Margot Livesey

Narrado por: Imogen Church

The New York Times bestselling author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy delivers another “luminous, unforgettable, and perfectly rendered” (Dennis Lehane) novel—a poignant and probing psychological drama that follows the lives of three siblings in the wake of a violent crime.

One September afternoon in 1999, teenagers Matthew, Zoe, and Duncan Lang are walking home from school when they discover a boy lying in a field, bloody and unconscious. Thanks to their intervention, the boy’s life is saved. In the aftermath, all three siblings are irrevocably changed.

Matthew, the oldest, becomes obsessed with tracking down the assailant, secretly searching the local town with the victim’s brother. Zoe wanders the streets of Oxford, looking at men, and one of them, a visiting American graduate student, looks back. Duncan, the youngest, who has seldom thought about being adopted, suddenly decides he wants to find his birth mother. Overshadowing all three is the awareness that something is amiss in their parents’ marriage. Over the course of the autumn, as each of the siblings confronts the complications and contradictions of their approaching adulthood, they find themselves at once drawn together and driven apart.

Written with the deceptive simplicity and power of a fable, The Boy in the Field showcases Margot Livesey’s unmatched ability to “tell her tale masterfully, with intelligence, tenderness, and a shrewd understanding of all our mercurial human impulses” (Lily King, author of Euphoria).

E asy to listen to before bed.

I would have enjoyed the story more with a different narrator. perhaps a male.

Quiet, pastoral mystery

A perfectly decent and mildly entertaining story, told from a kid's point of view. The strongest part of the story was the picture of small-town English life.

a break

really enjoyed this novel. The structure (each chapter told by one of the three Lang kids) provided variety and bite‐size chapters. The fact the kids were all under the same roof propelled a really enjoyable narrative forward, as if told by one person. Finally, it was just great to spend time in 1999, a much appreciated break from 2020.

Beautiful story about perspective and growing

This is the first Livesey book I have read/listened to and it did not disappoint! The reading was wonderful, the characters drew me in and the story a beautiful plot of turmoil, dealing with emotions, and learning to live with one's history. A lovely book with a descriptive journey of discovering one's own path.

A Small Gem

This is a story of a discovery that prompts two brothers and their sister to take risks, reach out and challenge themselves from the secure place of love that is their family. Beautifully written and read, it’s a reassuring tonic for difficult times.