When We Were Romans

by Matthew Kneale (Author)

• Used

  Perfect Paperback
  2007

  $4.19

  Lawrence is only a child, but he's the man in his family. His little sister is still too young to understand. When their mother, paranoid that the kids' father is stalking them, drives her young family through the night across the continent to Rome, what begins as an adventure ends in imprisonment and a desperate attempt finally to break free. Told from the point of view of Lawrence, who is obsessed by the Roman Emperors but also by the stars, this profoundly moving novel shows how childhood innocence copes with adulthood come early, and how a boy's humour, protectiveness and intuitive understanding keeps a family from falling apart.

• Used

  Paperback
  2008

  $3.25

  Nine-year-old Lawrence is the man in his family, watching protectively over his mother and his wilful little sister Jemima. When the three of them suddenly move to Rome it seems at first to be a great adventure: a long drive through the night to the city of popes and emperors. But as his mother's behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, and the threat that had forced them to Italy seems to have followed them there, Lawrence's excitement at his new surroundings gives way to something far harder to endure. Told in the engaging voice of Lawrence, this haunting psychological novel powerfully evokes all the feelings of childhood - the triumphs, the jealousies, the fears, the possessions, and most of all, the love. 'Heartbreakingly moving ...Full of restraint and artistic integrity, this is a poignant, haunting and lovely novel' Joanna Briscoe, Guardian 'The road trip is narrated by Lawrence with insight, humour and sweetly erratic spelling ...The fragility of a family is sensed beautifully' Financial Times 'I believed in Lawrence as a character. His voice is skilfully realised, to the extent that I felt I could actually hear it ...I cried at the end' Irish Times

• Used

  Hardcover
  2007

  $3.25

  Nine-year-old Lawrence is the man in his family. He watches protectively over his mother and his wilful little sister Jemima. He is the one who keeps things in order, especially when, quite suddenly, his mother decides the three of them must leave their life in England behind. Their destination is Rome, where she lived when she was young, and as they drive through the night in a car filled to bursting, the excitement takes them back to those happier days. For Lawrence, fascinated by stories of popes and emperors, Rome is an adventure. Though short of money, and passed from one to another of his mother's old friends, it seems that little by little their new life is beginning to take shape. But the mystery that brought them to Italy will not quite leave them in peace. When We Were Romans is a haunting psychological novel, another masterful work from the author of the prize-winning English Passengers . Powerfully evoking the feelings of childhood - the triumphs, the jealousies, the fears, the possessions, the love - it is most of all the story of Lawrence, of how, with a wisdom well in advance of his years, he strives to keep his family together, as everything he understands is turned upside down.

• New

  Paperback
  2008

  $15.20

  Nine-year-old Lawrence is the man in his family, watching protectively over his mother and his wilful little sister Jemima. When the three of them suddenly move to Rome it seems at first to be a great adventure: a long drive through the night to the city of popes and emperors. But as his mother's behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, and the threat that had forced them to Italy seems to have followed them there, Lawrence's excitement at his new surroundings gives way to something far harder to endure. Told in the engaging voice of Lawrence, this haunting psychological novel powerfully evokes all the feelings of childhood - the triumphs, the jealousies, the fears, the possessions, and most of all, the love. 'Heartbreakingly moving ...Full of restraint and artistic integrity, this is a poignant, haunting and lovely novel' Joanna Briscoe, Guardian 'The road trip is narrated by Lawrence with insight, humour and sweetly erratic spelling ...The fragility of a family is sensed beautifully' Financial Times 'I believed in Lawrence as a character. His voice is skilfully realised, to the extent that I felt I could actually hear it ...I cried at the end' Irish Times