By George

by WesleyStace (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2009

  $4.62

  By George is the utterly original story of a flawed but formidable family - and of two very different boys. One is an eleven-year-old schoolboy, the other a ventriloquist's dummy. With no voice of his own but plenty to say, the dummy tells his life story; from his humble beginnings in the 1930s to his rise in fame as force's favourite during the war and the horrible secret he's been made to keep. Years later, his self-possessed but vulnerable namesake finds himself packed off to boarding school, far from his mother Frankie, dynamic actress and Principal Boy; his grandma Queenie, children's party entertainer extraordinaire; and his bed-ridden but redoubtable great-grandmother. While the dummy lies dusty, silent and forgotten, his young counterpart sets out to learn about his dead grandfather's past as a world-famous ventriloquist, his magical powers and their family's curious history.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2007

  $5.77

  In the illustrious history of the theatrical Fishers, there are two Georges. One is a peculiar but endearing eleven year old, raised in the seedy world of boarding houses and backstages, now packed off to school for the first time; the other, a garrulous ventriloquist's dummy who belonged to George's grandfather, a favourite travelling act of the British troops in World War II. The two Georges know nothing of each other - until events conspire to unite them in a search to uncover the family's deepest secrets. While the dummy lies dusty, silent and abandoned, his young namesake sets out to learn about his dead grandfather's past as a world-famous ventriloquist, his magical powers and their family's curious history. Weaving the boy's tale and the puppet's memoirs, By George unveils the fascinating Fisher family - its weak men, its dominant women, its disgruntled boys, and its shocking and dramatic secrets. At once bitingly funny and exquisitely tender, Wesley Stace's novel is the unforgettable journey of two young boys separated by years but driven by the same desire: to find a voice, and to be loved.