By the New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Clocks and Cloud Atlas | Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize Selected by Time as One of the Ten Best Books of the Year | A New York Times Notable Book | Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The Washington Post Book World, The Christian Science Monitor, Rocky Mountain News, and Kirkus Reviews | A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist | … News, and Kirkus Reviews | A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist | Winner of the ALA Alex Award | Finalist for the Costa Novel Award
From award-winning writer David Mitchell comes a sinewy, meditative novel of boyhood on the cusp of adulthood and the old on the cusp of the new.
Black Swan Green tracks a single year in what is, for thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor, the sleepiest village in muddiest Worcestershire in a dying Cold War England, 1982. But the thirteen chapters, each a short story in its own right, create an exquisitely observed world that is anything but sleepy. A world of Kissingeresque realpolitik enacted in boys’ games on a frozen lake; of “nightcreeping” through the summer backyards of strangers; of the tabloid-fueled thrills of the Falklands War and its human toll; of the cruel, luscious Dawn Madden and her power-hungry boyfriend, Ross Wilcox; of a certain Madame Eva van Outryve de Crommelynck, an elderly bohemian emigré who is both more and less than she appears; of Jason’s search to replace his dead grandfather’s irreplaceable smashed watch before the crime is discovered; of first cigarettes, first kisses, first Duran Duran LPs, and first deaths; of Margaret Thatcher’s recession; of Gypsies camping in the woods and the hysteria they inspire; and, even closer to home, of a slow-motion divorce in four seasons.
Pointed, funny, profound, left-field, elegiac, and painted with the stuff of life, Black Swan Green is David Mitchell’s subtlest and most effective achievement to date.
Praise for Black Swan Green
“[David Mitchell has created] one of the most endearing, smart, and funny young narrators ever to rise up from the pages of a novel. . . . The always fresh and brilliant writing will carry readers back to their own childhoods. . . . This enchanting novel makes us remember exactly what it was like.”—The Boston Globe
“[David Mitchell is a] prodigiously daring and imaginative young writer. . . . As in the works of Thomas Pynchon and Herman Melville, one feels the roof of the narrative lifted off and oneself in thrall.”—Time
“[A] brilliant new novel . . . In Jason, Mitchell creates an evocation yet authentically adolescent voice.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Alternately nostalgic, funny and heartbreaking.”—The Washington Post
“Great Britain’s Catcher in the Rye—and another triumph for one of the present age’s most interesting and accomplished novelists.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“This book is so entertainingly strange, so packed with activity, adventures, and diverting banter, that you only realize as the extraordinary novel concludes that the timid boy has grown before your eyes into a capable young man.”—Entertainment Weekly
From the Hardcover edition.
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This one was just lovely. Great Britain in 1982, 13-year-old Jason Taylor navigates through life in sleepy Worcestershire. School bullies, the neighborhood popularity and notoriety, family troubles and Thatcher’s Britain – all seen and captured with charm and wit. I loved this one.
Challenging and rewarding novel with calls to Catcher in the Rye. A 13 year old in 1982 England with a stammer trying to navigate high school, parents, parties, and guilt. Reminder of how hard adolescence is and how we are who we are because of those experiences. Another fantastic novel by Mitchell.
I’m a fan of David Mitchell–his books can be challenging and complicated, but they are never boring. This is an older title that I read years ago, but I really enjoyed the setting–felt immersed in the place. My favorite is still Cloud Atlas, but this was a satisfying read.
David Mitchell is one of the most talented writers today. Black Swan Green was a heart-felt snapshot of a young boy’s life in the ’80s. Jason struggles to cope with his parents’ impending divorce, bullies, and growing up in general. It is relatable, beautifully written, and full of the confusion and joys of early adolescence.
I love a book that isn’t written in the conventional way and this book hit that spot exactly. The beginning is strange and interesting and it just gets better and better. Reminds me so much of small town Ireland. I highly recommend it, especially if you like coming of age books.
I’m a sucker for coming of age stories. The Fault In Our Stars? The Perks of Being A Wallflower? Sign me up. I think because those years are so formative I just feel the need to relive them over and over in different ways. Well, Black Swan Green is my current favorite coming-of-age story. David Mitchell had me at Cloud Atlas and this novel is just …
I wasn’t sure about this book after a few pages but then it hooked me I couldn’t wait to read each chapter!
I guess I’m not particularly enthralled with the world of a young adolescent English boy, complete with sexually inappropriateness.
Good story, but I didn’t like the use of the second person (you) when the protagonist, who is telling the story, is doing or saying something.
One of my favorite books by David Mitchell. A wonderful coming of age story set in a small English village. Highly recommend.
Quit reading it. I couldn’t decipher the slang and was fed up with the petty concerns of teenagers.
Best book ever on the tragedy of youth trying desperately to hang on to minimal social class with peers, ready to sacrifice academic excellence, anything, to not slip into the outcasts. Great northern England setting.