The Roundabout Man by Clare Morrall

"I've gone through my entire life being a Quinn who doesn't exist, the scruffy child who can't do up his shoe laces.  As an adult I'm invisible.  No one is ever interested in me, only my fictional character."

The Roundabout Man is a charming and poignant novel about why someone might chose to live on the fringes of society, and how a caring community can form in all sorts of situations.

Quinn lives in a caravan among the woods in a huge roundabout in the United Kingdom. He lives simply and largely unnoticed, foraging for leftovers at a nearby service centre where most of the staff turn a discrete blind eye.
A violent assault follows a newspaper article revealing his whereabouts, and Quinn is forced to rely on the kindness of strangers and staff from the service centre.

As a child Quinn was immortalised in Enid Blyton-type books written by his cold and distant mother; describing the real and imagined exploits of Quinn and his triplet sisters.
As Quinn is reunited with his estranged sisters he begins to try and make sense of his childhood and the aloof and really quite dreadful behaviour of his famous mother.

Insightful and evocative; an uplifting read that will have me searching out more of the work of Clare Morrall.

Posted by Katrina

Catalogue link: The Roundabout Man