Boy with a Black Rooster

(Paperback)

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Can an eleven-year-old boy succeed where others have failed Can he recover a kidnapped child, disprove a false accusation of assault or win a sleep-deprivation competition that has driven others mad with tragic consequences

He can, if he is accompanied by a black rooster, his protector and friend. And if he is Martin, orphaned after a massacre, full of wisdom, courage and a pure heart. Too good for the selfish and idiotic villagers around him, his integrity entrances an itinerant painter with whom he departs on a quest. His heroic adventures through a morally abhorrent landscape, physically ravaged by war and famine, keep the reader cheering for him and his companion as this fairy tale for adults unfolds.

Set against a pseudo-medieval post-apocalyptic backdrop reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy, Angela Carter and Missouri Williams, this bestselling novel shines with the inner radiance of good deed in a naughty world that will leave you haunted, horrified, and completely riveted.

This appears light as a feather, yet elaborately crafted all the same. Rose-Maria Gropp

It feels like an old story, one of those that stays with you forever, but every part of it is surprising and wonderful. I want to go straight back and read it all again. Sin Hughes, author of Pearl

A debut that is both admirable and truly unique. Jean-Baptiste Hamelin, Page des Libraires

Halfway between macabre tale and surrealist epic. Camille Thomine, Lire magazine littraire

Reviews

'This appears light as a feather, yet elaborately crafted all the same.' -- Rose-Maria Gropp in her laudatory speech for the Mara Cassens Prize

'And - this is important - she has proven that for this there exists a language filled with poetry, wit and courage.' -- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

'Magnificently superimposes the probable with the improbable, all the while connecting life and death with great intelligence and narrative proficiency.' -- Pierre Deshusses, Le Monde des livres

'A debut that is both admirable and truly unique.' -- Jean-Baptiste Hamelin, Page des Libraires

'Halfway between macabre tale and surrealist epic, Boy with a Black Rooster, with its many ambiguities, is as reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch as it is of Giambattista Basile's Tale of Tales (adapted for the cinema by Matteo Garrone).' -- Camille Thomine, Lire - magazine littraire

'A great rhythm, beautiful sentences, atmosphere: a joyful cultural experience.' -- Thomas Andre, Hamburger Abendblatt

'Gripping, uncanny, a look into the human abyss. And yet, there is magic in this child.' -- Peter Helling, NDR Kultur in Hamburg

'Full of poetic power and with a language characterised by images.' -- HR2 Kultur

'An enigmatic debut of peculiar beauty.' -- Meike Schnitzler, Brigitte in Hamburg

'Stefanie vor Schulte has composed this novel like a fairy tale for adults. Cruel, poetic, and with a fairytale ending. A wonderful debut.' -- Claudia Ingenhoven, NDR Kultur in Hanover

'A ray of light in gloomy times, beautifully narrated and extraordinarily touching.' -- Dagmar Kaindl, Buchkultur

'Stefanie vor Schulte's sentences are short, concise and incredibly clear. And they are also intensely vivid.' -- Uwe Badouin, Oberhessische Presse

'Stefanie vor Schulte's novel demonstrates that it takes the wisdom of a child to understand cruelty.' -- Hannah Kppers, Schsische Zeitung

'This enigmatic plot, studded with symbols, and vor Schulte's concise, distinctive narrative style will be remembered for a long time.' -- Ulrike Frenkel, Mnchner Merkur

Author Bio

Stefanie vor Schulte, born in Hanover in 1974, studied stage and costume design. She lives in Marburg with her husband and four children. Her first novel Junge mit schwarz Hahn was awarded the Mara Cassens Prize for the best German-language debut in 2021.

Alexandra Roesch studied languages and business and worked in banking before becoming a literary translator. She has an MA in translation from the University of Bristol. In 2018, she was long-listed for the Goethe Institutes Helen & Kurt Wolff Prize. Previously translated authors include Hans Fallada, Seraina Kobler and Merle Krger.