Bloody Awful in Different Ways
Andrev Walden author Ian Giles translator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd
Publishing:14th Aug '25
£16.99
This title is due to be published on 14th August, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE AUGUST PRIZE 2023
I’m fizzing. I love not being his son.
Yes. I can feel it in my whole body. A great thrill – as if an adventure has begun. As if I’m the boy in a book about a boy who finds out his dad is the king of a magical and distant land.
Christmas, 1983. In the aftermath of yet another furious argument, seven-year-old Andrev’s mother lets him in on a secret: his father is, in fact, not his father. And so begins a new kind of childhood, in which fathers come and go, arriving in red Volvos and sweeping his mother off her feet. Fathers can be magicians or murderers, artists or canoe enthusiasts, and, like growing pains, or the weather, they appear uninvited and leave without warning. Fathers are drawn to his mother like moths to a flame – but even she can’t control how they behave.
Vivid and joyful, raw and tender, Bloody Awful in Different Ways is a novel about growing up in the chaos of social change; about how love begins and ends; and above all, about men. Because after all, you learn an awful lot about this strange species when you have seven fathers in seven years.
‘Pure joyous storytelling on every page … A little treasure of a book’ Fredrick Backman
‘Outstanding literature. Shamelessly entertaining’ Sydsvenskan
A LITTLE TREASURE OF A BOOK. Hilarious but vulnerable, clever but raw, and pure joyous storytelling on every page. You’ll come for the laughs, but you’ll stay for the love letter, from a grown man to his boy self, promising everything will be all right * Fredrik Backman, author of A Man Called Ove *
'I challenge you not to fall in love with Andrev as he thrashes doggedly through life - perpetually hopeful and inept. This is a small gem of a novel, with an irresistible voice and a teasing sidelong wit * Meg Rosoff, author of How I Live Now *
What a book! I laughed, cried, despaired and hoped for this young boy negotiating 7 fathers in 7 chaotic years, taking us with him for the wild ride. A story that reads this easily with consummate fluidity, pace and comic timing deserves the widest audience possible * Jo Browning Wroe, author of A Terrible Kindness *
In a perfect balance between levity and sadness, Andrev Walden depicts a boy's attempt to come to terms with a life where fathers are constantly replaced. Bloody Men is a humorous examination of a different kind of childhood, which, despite the pervasive blackness, is portrayed with an inexhaustible warmth and presence * August Prize Judges *
Outstanding literature. Shamelessly entertaining * Sydsvenskan *
An incredible account of growing up * Ann-Helen Laestadius, author of Stolen *
Walden makes both trivialities and atrocities sparkle * Aftonbladet *
This is a childhood story of the humorous kind, which occasionally resembles a fairy tale – but also has a core of seriousness and sadness, through its portrayal of men’s violence against women and children … A remarkable achievement, Bloody Men is a debut that bodes very well * Svenska Dagbladet *
A hair-raising story, formidably told [...] I would sacrifice blood for his language * Dala-Demokraten *
Walden impresses greatly with his thoughtful storytelling and unique filter against reality * Göteborgsposten *
ISBN: 9780241720288
Dimensions: 216mm x 135mm x 25mm
Weight: 400g
288 pages