The Porpoise

Paperback Published on: 16/04/2020
Price: £8.99
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Bookseller Reviews

View all
The Porpoise
Inventive and imaginative...
Multi layered with multiple time periods from modern times to the Shakespearean era to ancient times, Mark Haddon has created a vortex for readers to fall ... READ MORE
Emine at Bromley
The Porpoise
Striking and unsettling, yet entirely compelling
Inspired by the play ‘Pericles, Prince of Tyre’, thought to have been co-written by George Wilkins and William Shakespeare, Mark Haddon’s latest novel jump... READ MORE
Ella at Lewes
The Porpoise
A real adventure story
This is a very different story to the author’s previous work. It is a complex plot informed by Shakespeare’s Pericles and Greek mythology. It passes thro... READ MORE
Linda@{Livingston]

Synopsis

'I really am so very, very sorry about this,' he says, in an oddly formal voice...They strike the side of a grain silo. They are travelling at seventy miles per hour.

A newborn baby is the sole survivor of a terrifying plane crash. She is raised in wealthy isolation by an overprotective father. She knows nothing of the rumours about a beautiful young woman, hidden from the world.

When a suitor visits, he understands far more than he should. Forced to run for his life, he escapes aboard The Porpoise, an assassin on his tail... So begins a wild adventure of a novel, damp with salt spray, blood and tears.

A novel that leaps from the modern era to ancient times; a novel that soars, and sails, and burns long and bright; a novel that almost drowns in grief yet swims ashore; in which pirates rampage, a princess wins a wrestler's hand, and ghost women with lampreys' teeth drag a man to hell - and in which the members of a shattered family, adrift in a violent world, journey towards a place called home.

Publisher information

  • Publisher: Vintage Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781529110708
  • Number of pages: 336
  • Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 20 mm
  • Weight: 237g
  • Languages: English

Customer Reviews

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The Porpoise
Multi-strand novel about Pericles amongst others – not great
This novel is about various inter-linked characters in different timelines. Philippe, in our era, has a daughter, Angelica, born in tragic circumstances. M... READ MORE
Minette
The Porpoise
Disappointed
Nowhere near as good as his previous material. At one point I almost gave up but struggled on to the end in the vain hope that it would get better. Glad ... READ MORE
Roger  Harris
The Porpoise
A confusing epic
I have to admit a certain amount of shame with The Porpoise - I was granted the ARC back in February 2019 and I started it that May just ahead of its initi... READ MORE
KindigBlog
The Porpoise
A wild ride, if you can go with it...
Having not read the juggernaut that was Mark Haddon's 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time', I came to this novel completely unaware of his s... READ MORE
Keely
The Porpoise
Strap up for the ride!
The author is of course famous for his first adult novel “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” was of course hugely (and in my view completel... READ MORE
Graham Fulcher
The Porpoise
The Porpoise
Enjoyed it enough to start reading Pericles and shall probably read it again after finishing
Austen  Lynch
The Porpoise
Odd
I received this book from Net Galley via my Book Club. It is not my usual genre, but I am happy to read any for my Book Club. Unfortunately, I did not enj... READ MORE
Joan Moir
The Porpoise
Disappointing - not in the same class as The Curious Incident of The Dog In the Night
Quite a muddled storyline and not at all as satisfying as The Curious Incident. Characters were unengaging. Not a satisfying read.
Daisy Swinson
The Porpoise
a wonderful read
The Porpoise is the fourth novel by award-winning British author, Mark Haddon and is a retelling of the Greek legend of Apollonius. Newborn Angelica is the... READ MORE
Marianne Vincent