Mother's Boy cover art

Mother's Boy

A stunning novel of Cornwall, war and hidden love

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Mother's Boy

By: Patrick Gale
Narrated by: Patrick Gale
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

From the best-selling author of A Place Called Winter comes Mother's Boy, a superb historical novel of Cornwall, class, desire and two world wars.

Laura, an impoverished Cornish girl, meets her husband when they are both in service in Teignmouth in 1916. They have a baby, Charles, but Laura's husband returns home from the trenches a damaged man, already ill with the tuberculosis that will soon leave her a widow. In a small, class-obsessed town she raises her boy alone, working as a laundress and gradually becomes aware that he is some kind of genius.

As an intensely private young man, Charles signs up for the navy with the new rank of coder. His escape from the tight, gossipy confines of Launceston to the colour and violence of war sees him blossom as he experiences not only the possibility of death, but the constant danger of a love that is as clandestine as his work.

Mother's Boy is the story of a man who is among yet apart from his fellows, in thrall to yet at a distance from his own mother; a man being shaped for a long, remarkable and revered life spent hiding in plain sight. But it is equally the story of the dauntless mother who will continue to shield him long after the dangers of war are past.

©2022 Patrick Gale (P)2022 Headline Publishing Group Ltd 20th Century Fiction Historical Fiction War Marriage Inspiring Tear-jerking Heartfelt Thought-Provoking

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Hidden Years cover art
Heroine of Her Own Life cover art
You Will Be Safe Here cover art
The Woman with the Map cover art
The Girl Without a Name cover art
A Cuppa Tea and an Aspirin cover art
Mad Hatter cover art
Daughters of Cornwall cover art
First Love Last Love cover art
The Secret Letter cover art
The Outcast Girls cover art
The Tuscan Secret cover art
One Moonlit Night cover art
There'll Be Blue Skies cover art

Critic reviews

"One of the joys of Gale's writing is how even the smallest of characters can appear fully formed, due to a charming wickedness alongside deeper observations." (Irish Times)

"A writer with heart, soul and a dark and naughty wit, one whose company you relish and trust." (Observer)
All stars
Most relevant  
A gentle story but I don’t share the feelings of other reviewers who appear blown away by it. It was enjoyable but has a very abrupt ending. I bought this in one of the 2 for 1 sales, taking advantage of the opportunity to try something different from my normal fare and I don’t regret it but I’m not tempted to listen to more from this author.

Very abrupt ending.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Such brilliant description of the county where I was born with moving detail about the deep impact of war. I loved this listen and was sad when the book ended. Give it a listen!

Beautifully Cornish

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Beautifully read by the author adding to a warm, fascinating story of war, family friendships + of course Cornwall.

Another wonderful Patrick Gale novel

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I found Patrick Gale's most moving. Patrick's narration is sublime. The story has depth of emotion in its subtlety. A great retelling of a life.

A wonderful story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I didn’t know of Charles Causeley when I bought this novel & I feel now I’ve made a friend! It’s a beautiful fictional telling of his life which embraces life in pre and post war Cornwall and the wartime years for Charles in the Navy. Highly recommend.

Excellent and enlightening story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Because they are telling the story of a life, factional stories can sometimes lack in the necessary plot devices of a more traditional novel but here that is more than made up for by the affection and warmth that Gale brings to his subject. If Causley is well drawn it is mother Laura who is the hero of the piece. From the outset she fills each scene with her simple loving presence of hardwork and genuine decency. Her gorgeous courtship with Causley's father is made all the more poignant by how tragically fleeting their lives together are to be. From the playful Cornish accents to this dip into a very different time and place this is a story to fill you with warmth and belief in the goodness of people and community. All delivered of course by an absolute master of this craft. Brilliant.

A Mother's Love

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I always love Patrick Gale’s writing, and have enjoyed several of his books on Audible.
Some people have criticised his reading of his own material. I speak as a performer myself when I say that his reading of his own work gives it an extra dimension. His voice is warm and embracing.

Beautifully researched and written

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Sad,touching,heartwarming novel about a son and mother's relationship.Brilliantly poetic passages with mouthwatering descriptions of the Cornish landscape...and food!

Wonderful novel - Beautifully narrated

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
what an excellent story, which I suddenly realised was about a loved poet,Charles Causley.I am now intrigued to find out more about him

excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I felt so part of the story and drifted along with a more closely discription of a sailors life in war time...and a understanding of having to live in a not so enlightened time.

brings history alive

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews