Howl

Howl Synopsis

A tragicomic portrait of one man's unravelling in an absurd, twisted world, Howl is the propulsive new novel from Booker-Prize winner Howard Jacobson.

'A howling comic masterpiece' Patrick Marber
'Brilliant' Daily Telegraph

In the aftermath of October 7, Ferdinand Draxler walks the streets of London in despair. Everything has changed. He too is not who he was. Is he at the crossroads of history or is it just a bend in the cul-de-sac of his own gloomy nature?

The son of a Holocaust survivor who accuses him of cowardice and the father of a daughter who sees him as complicit in genocide, Draxler fixates on bad news. The staffroom at the primary school of which he is headmaster has become a battlefield of inflamed opinion. Even his wife, Charmian, a beacon of calm, isn't sure she can save Ferdie from himself...

'No one writing in English can match Howard Jacobson' Cynthia Ozick

'One can howl, of course, with despair, or with laughter: brilliantly, this book combines the two' David Baddiel

'Unapologetic, fearless, a roar as much as a howl' Financial Times