"This thought-provoking novel unpacks toxic masculinity, the misogynist manosphere, and a woman’s deep-rooted feelings of guilt."
Cutting to the core of a suite of timely topics, including the non-consensual sharing of intimate images and the pernicious effects of pornography, Rebeca Spargo’s Such a Nice Boy exposes the dark misogyny of the manosphere through the guilt-ridden lens of a middle-class everywoman who’s haunted by her past inaction.
In the present-day narrative, Amanda’s life starts to unravel when she learns that her neighbour’s fifteen-year-old daughter died by suicide. This hits especially hard as the teenager was in the same school year as her son. Soon after, an outburst from a school-mum peer hits harder still: “I don’t know whether to feel sorry for you for being so naïve about your son’s true nature, or simply contemptuous because you didn’t know and you should have”.
After doing some digging, Amanda and her husband discover that their son, ostensibly “a little swot obsessed with video games”, watches violent pornography and is part of the WhatsApp group that bullied the girl into taking her life.
Excruciatingly torn between an impulse to protect her son and her feminist identity, Amanda’s entire family is also torn asunder, with her daughter taking a clear stand against her brother’s “disgusting” behaviour. As Amanda drowns her sorrows in wine, wondering how her good boy could have turned out so bad after she and her husband had “spent years teaching our children right from wrong, trying to instil liberal, egalitarian values”, the narrative switches to the tragic events of Amanda’s pre-university trip to Ibiza.
Written in a straightforward style, with characters’ emotions clearly signposted (“Nathan narrowed his eyes at the bed of rosebushes we were passing like he suspected they might come alive and do him harm”; “I pressed my Converse over a large stone ’til I felt it on the sole of my foot and picked my words carefully”), Such a Nice Boy comes recommended for readers who enjoy eye-opening conversation starters and hard-hitting contemporary fiction centred on family life.
Your 15-year-old son stands accused of something terrible.Who is to blame? His friends? Social media?Or, as his mother, is it your fault?When Amanda finds out her teenage son, Nathan, is accused of being among a group of boys sexually bullying a young woman and causing her to take her own life, she is devastated, and convinced she is to blame. She should have been there more, known more, done more.
| Primary Genre | Family Drama |
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Such a Nice Boy by Rebecca Spargo is a powerful, uncomfortable thriller tackling toxic masculinity, digital dangers, and modern parenthood. A highly recommended domestic suspense novel that forces deep reflection on online exposure.
Such A Nice Boy by Rebecca Spargo is a contemporary, psychological thriller which tackles the complexities of modern-day parenthood, toxic masculinity and the perils of the digital world we live in.
The story follows Amanda, who is devastated when her son is accused of being among a group of boys sexually bullying a young woman and causing her to take her own life. As the crisis deepens tragic memories from Amanda's childhood return which shape her reaction to the events and she is torn between protecting her son and making sure that he faces the consequences of his actions.
For a parent in today’s modern world this is an important, uncomfortable read.... Read Full Review
How easily our rosy-coloured view of the world can unravel to leave us with fear and a desperate need to change how things actually are. Difficult to believe that this is Rebecca Spargo's debut novel. She is a genius.
Such a Nice Boy is a powerful and well-written book that has had a profound impact on me.
Rebecca Spargo has created a story that drills down to the horrors of a misogynistic toxic masculinity lying beneath the surface of our everyday world and infiltrating the lives of young boys and men still at school. But it is much more than that - a girl commits suicide and a son is accused of bullying and the ordinary ways of being are shattered.
This is a story of a mother struggling with her son's accusation and memories evoked, but also a joyful story of female friendship and lifelong support.
I was moved by how deeply this book has affected me.... Read Full Review
A timely and interesting read about facing the consequences and carrying the guilt.
Interesting and timely.
Amanda is coasting along in life – married to Toby, two kids, good job…and a massive secret that she has been nursing for 25 years. As a teenager, Amanda and her three friends had gone on their first ‘no adults’ holiday to Ibiza…and only three of them had come home. Amanda is struggling to deal with her part in the events of years ago at the same time as her son is being accused of something hideous – the death of a teenage girl by suicide due to bullying from groups of boys in a toxic Whatsapp group.
Amanda’s struggles pale into insignificance as she battles to discover the truth about her son, protect her daughter, fight with her husband and wrestle with her own drinking problems.... Read Full Review
Your 15-year-old son stands accused of something terrible.Who is to blame? His friends?
Such a Nice Boy features in the following genres: Book Club Recommendations, Family Drama, General Fiction, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Street fiction / urban fiction, Contemporary lifestyle fiction, Family Drama, Fiction, Street fiction / urban fiction, Contemporary lifestyle fiction
Paperback. £8.99, down from the £9.99 cover price. In Stock.
Such a Nice Boy was written by Rebecca Spargo and published by Hera an imprint of Canelo
Such a Nice Boy has 352 pages
£8.99, reduced from £9.99. In Stock.
