Boy in the Field (2020) by Margot Livesey

Book Review

Boy in the Field (2020)

by Margot Livesey

   Boy in the Field is another gender-equity pick but there is no doubt that Boy in the Field is a hit for Livesey- with over a thousand Amazon reviews- big numbers for a small-scale work of literary fiction about three young siblings who find a young man battered in a field by their route home from school. Mom and Dad are are also major characters, but their can be no doubt that Livesey has written this book from the point of view of the kids.  Luckily, they are interesting kids. 

  The plot is less so- it looks like Livesey has some background in crime fiction- I saw comparisons to Patricia Highsmith for her earlier work- and there are some crime elements- the violent assault of the eponymous boy in the field- but there is no doubt that we are firmly in literary fiction land, where people sit in their house and think deep thoughts about the why of it all.  There can be no doubt that Livesey is an acute observer of the inner lives of children, but let's be honest, kids usually aren't that interesting, and upper-middle class ones from the wealthy, English speaking parts of all are least of all.