Coram Boy By Jamila Gavin

When first seeing the book I was reluctant to read it, due to its whole appearance. It didn’t look promising at all and seemed like it was going to be a big letdown. The title, blurb and colour scheme just made it look odd and unappealing, which makes you feel put off by it. Even when reading the blurb it seemed disappointing, there just wasn’t any particular wow factor about it, nothing that entice me or that caught my eye. However, once having read the book I felt that the blurb just doesn’t do the book justice. I know a blurb is a brief summary meant to grip the reader; also that it is difficult to really promote a book in such few words without giving the whole plot line and story away. Therefore, Jamila Gavin did a good job by writing a blurb that literally summed up the whole entire book in so few words, not giving too much detail or everything away, so fair play to Gavin. It just shows how first opinions and judgements aren’t always reliable and that some books, the Coram Boy being one of them, are so much better than they seem on the surface and are very much worth your time.

For me the story started off with a bit of a disappointing and rocky start, living up to my first impression of the book. The story started by introducing and following the lives of Meshak and his father Otis Gardiner, for the first three chapters. I couldn’t help in finding this a little dull and slow pace, but then in saying that all book are like this a bit at the start, due the characters and story begin introduced to you for the first time. Books just take a while sometimes to get going, which I found the Coram Boy to be one of them, but all stories have to start somewhere. This is probably why for about a quarter of the book I was unsure how I felt about it, for I didn’t dislike the book but I didn’t like it either.

After the first three chapters the story line suddenly switched from Meshak and Otis to being about two choir boys named Alexander and Thomas. As soon as the book did this I immediately thought “ow no”, for I really dislike books which change from one person or story line to the other, it just confuses me and gets on my nerves. However, as the book went on I found that the story carried on with Alexander and Thomas, not changing back to Meshak and Otis. I figured out that this was happened because both of their stories were connected, therefore, Meshak and Otis were introduced again later on in the book.  

Throughout the book I was never really bothered about Otis and Meshak and a few other characters along the way, there was no particular reason to this I just didn’t find them or their stories very interesting. However, I grew particularly fond of the characters Melissa and Alexander along with the whole Ashbrook family and friends, I just found their characters and all of the events that happened between them or to them really compelling and engaging. I found the last few chapters of part 1 with the Ashbrook`s especially moving and memorable, from what Mrs Milcote and Mrs Lynch did to Melissa without her knowing and without her say in the matter, I felt particularly annoying and outraged by this when I reading. It irritated and shocked me so much that they had just done that to her, I felt that it was morally wrong of them and that it was so unjustly to do and act as they did. Although, this event in the book made it more thrilling by having such a shocking turn of events and made it a key moment in my memory of the book.

The book is set in the 18^th century and has two parts to the book. Part 1 set in 1741 and is about the majority of what I have already said above: the introduction to characters and the story, the thrilling and shocking ending to part 1. Part 2 set in 1750 eight years in the future after the ending events of part 1. Part 2 is mostly based around two boys Aaron and Toby and their stories, which do gradually interlink with part 1, the stories of the Otis, Meshak, Alexander and the Ashbrook`s. At first the jump from part 1 to part 2 confused me a little for I was unsure if they were separate stories or not, but I eventually realised that they were connected. For me the blurb actually gave away a key part of part 2, by it mentioning Aarons name and the statement made about him. When reading part 2 I very quickly realised the connection and importance of Aaron in the book, because of the blurb. I don’t know whether Jamila Gavin intended on the reader make the connection or whether it was a mistake that I did.

Overall I found that the book had a bit of a disappointing ending, I would have liked everything to have been happily ever after and to have worked out. I feel that endings are always better that way, they make books more appealing and joyous from the fact that everything that the characters have been through and journeyed, wasn’t for nothing.

During and after reading the book I had a few observations. I found the way children and babies were treated and thought of really fascinating, in some aspects it surmised me. Also how the class divide influenced people’s actions and opinions, which lead to the some of the characters mostly women such as Mrs Milcote to make the decisions that they did. From this I feel as though the class divide and time the book was set shaped the events and outcome of the book, where as if certain aspects of the book were different such as there was no class divide like today, then that would affect and change the whole story and events that happened in the book.

If you do chose to read the Coram Boy then try not to let your first impression affect your decision to read it, because you will find that it was much better than you expected and that it let on. You will gradually grow to love it.

 

By Sophie Smithurst