The Dead Father's Club - Softcover

Haig, Matt

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0224076132 ISBN 13: 9780224076135

Publisher: Viking, 2006

Synopsis

Eleven-year-old Philip Noble has a big problem. It all begins when his dad, who has been killed in a road accident, appears as a bloodstained ghost at his own funeral, and introduces Philip to the Dead Fathers Club. The Dead Fathers Club are ghosts of dads in Newark who gather near the bottle banks outside the Nobles' pub. Philip learns the truth about ghosts: the only people who end up ghosts are murdered. He has to get revenge for his dad's murder by killing the murderer, his dad's brother, Uncle Alan. If he doesn't succeed in killing his uncle before his dad's birthday, just ten weeks away, his dad's spirit will never rest and he will always suffer the Terrors. So begins Philip's quest to avenge his dad and to save his mum from the greasy clutches of Uncle Alan, who seems intent on taking his dad's place in their lives. As Uncle Alan moves into the pub, Philip arms himself with weapons pilfered from the school chemistry cupboard, and attempts to carry out his father's relentless demands. But, things keep distracting him. Leah for a start - the gorgeous daughter of Alan's Bible-bashing business partner, Mr Polonius. And can Philip trust the ghost?

About this title

Review

The story of Hamlet is not usually thought of as one meant for laughter. But Matt Haig's able retelling of the tale in The Dead Fathers Club will make you laugh, though it might also evoke a tear. Eleven-year-old Philip Noble is at his father's funeral when who should appear but his father's ghost, who wastes no time in telling Philip that his Uncle Alan, an auto mechanic, tampered with his car, causing the accident that killed him. He warns Philip that Uncle Alan will shortly be tampering with his mother too, because Unctuous Uncle Alan wants the pub that Philip's father owned.

The solution to this problem, according to Philip's dad, is that he must kill Uncle Alan. If he doesn't do it before Dad's next birthday, 11 weeks away, Dad will be consigned to the Terrors for all eternity. Philip agrees, in principle, but killing someone, especially without getting caught, isn't easy. But a promise is a promise, so Philip gives it a whirl, in fact, several whirls. Real life interferes in the persons of two school bullies, truly nasty and perverse thugs, who seem ready to kill Philip because they think it's funny that his father died. Philip also falls in love, and his Ophelia (named Leah) thinks that shoplifting is tons of fun. Poor Philip is in over his head in every way possible. There are many encounters with other Dead Fathers in a great sendup of ghostly dealings, Hamlet-like, on the moors, and several sly references to the play. There is even a character named Dane. The ending is not pure Shakespeare, but it is pure Haig and that is very good indeed. --Valerie Ryan

About the Author

MATT HAIG is the author of the novel The Dead Fathers Club. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, the London Sunday Times, The Independent, and the Sydney Morning Herald. He lives in Leeds, England.

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0224076132
• ISBN 13: 9780224076135
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320