
The Wicked Boy
The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer
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Narrated by:
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Corrie James
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By:
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Kate Summerscale
Early in the morning of Monday, July 8, 1895, 13-year-old Robert Coombes and his 12-year-old brother, Nattie, set out from their small, yellow-brick terraced house in East London to watch a cricket match at Lord's. Their father had gone to sea the previous Friday, the boys told their neighbors, and their mother was visiting her family in Liverpool.
Over the next 10 days, Robert and Nattie spent extravagantly, pawning their parents' valuables to fund trips to the theatre and the seaside. But as the sun beat down on the Coombes house, a strange smell began to emanate from the building. When the police were finally called to investigate, the discovery they made sent the press into a frenzy of horror and alarm, and Robert and Nattie were swept up in a criminal trial that echoed the outrageous plots of the penny dreadful novels that Robert loved to read.
In The Wicked Boy, Kate Summerscale has uncovered a fascinating true story of murder and morality. It is not just a meticulous examination of a shocking Victorian case but also a compelling account of its aftermath and of man's capacity to overcome the past.
©2016 Kate Summerscale (P)2016 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...




















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A Complex Story
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The narrator was VERY good.
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Full of Surprises
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What did you love best about The Wicked Boy?
Summerscale provides an excellent picture of the life and times surrounding the story, not just a narrative of the crime, arrest and trial. She takes us into the heart of London and shows us who lived there and how they lived, thrived, and died.What other book might you compare The Wicked Boy to and why?
Batavia's Graveyard by Mike Dash.Depiction of Life and Times Not Just the Crime
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Great book!
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Interesting story but...
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The author did outstanding research
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The kind of book you’re glad to have listened to.
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There was what might be considered extraneous information about characters who might have crossed paths with him, but I was fascinated by their stories, and was glad they were included. Very goal oriented readers might call this padding. I certainly will not. I listened straight through, and highly recommend this book to others.
A Historical “True Crime” with So Much More
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Kate Summerscale has done a masterful job researching and retelling this story and the surprising twist that follows.
Well done!
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