Catherine Gilbert Murdock Books

The Book of Boy is a fresh and unexpected pilgrim tale in which nothing is quite as it seems. Fans of more unusual historical accounts will enjoy this curious and emotional story. 

The year is 1350. With Europe freshly recovering from years of devastating plague and violent wars, death was everywhere, and many people looked to religion or superstition to find certainty of a welcome in paradise in the next life. As a hunchback, Boy’s world changes when a strange pilgrim called Secundus requests that Boy accompany him on a pilgrimage across Europe. Boy’s job is to carry a mysterious pack containing the thumb of St Peter. Reluctant at first, Boy soon warms to his role when he realises the pack disguises his hump and makes him look like a “real boy”. As Boy spends more time with Secundus, it becomes clear that the pilgrimage is somewhat unusual. Secundus is engaged in a quest to find a list of particular relics of St Peter and, believing that finding them all will save his soul, will go to any length to recover them.

The Book of Boy is an absorbing read with a fascinating setting and relatable themes of identity, self-acceptance and the deceptiveness of appearances.