Capturing the sweet strangeness of childhood, Mick Jackson's new
novel is set against the comic background of a rural Devon village
adjusting to World War II. The five boys of the title are initially
encountered through the eyes of an East End evacuee, Bobby, an
alien creature to them. The boys are a somewhat strange entity too;
all born within the same week, they form a unit that is
disturbingly indivisible and are left much to themselves until the
arrival of the Bee King with his honey, bee lore and strange
rituals. Deciding Bobby is the vanguard of the fifth column, they
torment him very creatively before suddenly initiating him into
their games. Jackson does not romanticise childhood; he ably
captures the innocent malevolence of children, their unformed and
adaptable natures: the boys' receptivity is what bonds the Bee King
to them. Inhabited by quirky comic characters of great invention
rather than rural caricatures, the village itself provides much
gentle humour provoked by the new necessities of war. There are
some excellent set pieces, notably when the villagers bluff their
way into the American training area in pursuit of an errant pig and
when the GIs are invited to a barn-dance, the jitterbug unleashing
an unrestrained frenzy of female energy. As you would expect from a
writer who was shortlisted for the Booker for his debut novel, the
writing is superb, with an easy humour and well-observed insights.
Unfortunately, though, the conclusion is strangely unsatisfying.
Bobby disappears without explanation halfway through and the
intriguing Bee King, the central character, arrives only in the
last quarter of the book. The effect is disjointed and feels
unresolved even on the last page, which is a shame because
otherwise this is a very entertaining read. (Kirkus UK)
Something strange is going on in the village. A dead pig is carried
through the lanes in a coffin, a heap of signposts are buried in a
field and a mummy walks the streets late at night, scaring the
local ladies half to death. Things have never been the same since
the evacuee arrived and the Five Boys mistook him for a Nazi spy.
It is as if someone is out for revenge. The village has had a whole
host of visitors since: the Americans are down the road preparing
for D-Day and a deserter is hiding out in the woods. But it is the
arrival of the Bee King which makes the biggest impression. He is a
law unto himself, has his own strange rituals and the villagers
fear that he is beginning to exert the same charm over their boys
as he does over his bees. The second novel by the highly acclaimed
author of The Underground Man confirms Mick Jackson's originality
and talent.
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