The Prentice-Boy

Ray Rumsby

ISBN 10: 1910461601 / ISBN 13: 9781910461600

Published by Claret Press, 2022

About this Item

nach der Bestellung gedruckt Neuware - Printed after ordering - 'I was genuinely sorry to finish this book. It had me completely engaged. and I loved the clever surprise in the middle of it.' Louis de Bernieres, author of Captain Corelli's MandolinIn 1820 London, landscape artist William Daniell hires Jesse Cloud, a homeless teenager, to be his apprentice. But all is not as it seems. Both William and his prentice must make their own inner journeys to expose others' betrayals and explore their own possibilities. Faced with bankruptcy, starvation looms. Friendships fragment. The artist must learn how to see and his prentice must learn how to survive - while the truth shatters all.The powerlessness of the poor and women's suffrage are a constant presence tainting the air. This troubled period of change and division provides a vivid sense of time and place.William's casual assumptions about the poor in society and about women in particular challenges his very identity. An accident-prone venture to remote East Anglian shores becomes a journey of revelation and self-discovery as long-hidden truths about their backgrounds begin to unravel, and the secretive nature of the prentice-boy gains sudden significance.William's camera obscura captures an insecure society of inequality and flux. Two centuries later it is uncannily familiar and resonates deeply.

Seller Inventory # 9781910461600

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Prentice-Boy
• Publisher: Claret Press
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1910461601
• ISBN 13: 9781910461600
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 198W x 129H x 18D millimeters 198 millimeters width by 129 millimeters height by 18 millimeters depth
• Weight: 369 grams

About this title

Synopsis

In 1820, aquatint artist William Daniell of London hires Jesse Cloud, a homeless teenager, as his apprentice. But all is not as it seems. An eventful East Anglian tour impels both on their own inner journeys, exposing others’ betrayals and exploring their own possibilities. Faced with bankruptcy, starvation looms. The artist must learn how to see and his prentice must learn how to survive – while the truth shatters all.

About the Author

During a career in education, Ray wrote several articles for academic journals and his work for a national charity led to a PhD. In 2013 Ray began a campaign to rescue a local bookshop scheduled for closure. A group of volunteers formed a new, not-for-profit community bookshop, and Kett’s Books has evolved successfully ever since. A professional theatre company toured Suffolk and Norfolk in 2016 with Ray’s play about the life and work of George Crabbe. Crabbe’s 1810 poem Peter Grimes tells the tragic story of three apprentices ‘farmed out’ from a London workhouse. This led to the creation of Jesse Cloud, a homeless teenager fleeing the workhouse and one of the central characters of The Prentice-Boy.