Acclaimed by luminaries such as William Faulkner, E.M. Forster and Anthony Burgess, suppressed for more than fifty years by a prosecution for obscenity, James Hanley’s 1931 classic charts the short and brutal life of a boy forced out of school and into the unforgiving adult world.

Narrated in a visceral language that is both unflinching and acute in its observational power, Boy is a haunting and disturbing cautionary tale. This edition also contains a deleted scene from the manuscript, previously unpublished.

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'The story is quite shattering in its impact.' The Independent

'Powerful and moving… Hanley’s brilliance is to shock us whatever our level of sophistication... The reader’s consciousness is seared by the experience.' Evening Standard

'A message in a dirty bottle from the days when it was brave to be dirty.' Literary Review

'A powerful account of a working-class boy’s loss of moral and sexual innocence.' London Review of Books

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Read an excerpt from Boy

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