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The Congress of Rough Riders
The Congress of Rough Riders
Dec 24, 2025 10:00 AM

Author:John Boyne,Wilf Scolding

The Congress of Rough Riders

Brought to you by Penguin.

William Cody grows up surrounded by his father's tales of Buffalo Bill, to whom he is distantly related, and his fantasies of the Wild West.

Though he escapes his heritage by fleeing abroad and starting a new life for himself, he finds that he is always drawn back to England and to his ancestry.

When his father proposes that together they should recreate Buffalo Bill's stage show, "The Congress of Rough Riders of the World" for a contemporary audience, William refuses to have any part of it. When tragedy strikes, however, it is to his father that he must eventually return.

© John Boyne 2011 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Reviews

Boyne's story has echoes of John Irving's sprawling family epics. This is an entertaining campfire story

—— Time

A total blast... clever, provocative stuff. A formidable achievement

—— Independent

A rollicking ride...Compelling

—— The Scotsman

The charm of history in this book lies in imagining how exciting it would have been to live there

—— Observer

Boyne is an engaging writer who succeeds in making his readers care about the confused and rather selfish William

—— Daily Telegraph

An exceptionally well-constructed novel.

—— Irish Times

Satisfying . . . Khemiri succeeds at creating an infectious sense of melancholia as the poisonous patriarch is forced to reckon with the truth. In a slow build of quotidian moments, Khemiri constructs a familiarly flawed universe that lays bare what it means to be human.

—— Publishers Weekly

The Family Clause vibrates with rueful humour and quiet wisdom. The more you get to know the characters contained within it, the more you see how tremendously large Jonas Hassen Khemiri's heart must be. His redemptive vision is rare and needed in these dark times.

—— Joshua Furst

I was drawn into this fascinating story right from the beginning and couldn't let loose for days after I had put down The Family Clause. And now, some weeks later, I know I will never forget the grandfather, the son who is a father, the sister, or the girlfriend. They are here to stay in my mind, like those other fictional characters you never meet in real life, but who you would recognize on the street the minute you saw them. Their personalities are far from perfect, but because of that, you love them all the more for who they are.

—— Herman Koch

Behold the great innovator of Swedish literature, with a unique ability to fill his prose with energy and vigour.

—— Jönköpings-Posten

Smart and simple, with greatness hidden in the detail, in the patterns of human behaviour that are exposed, The Family Clause is Khemiri’s best novel yet.

—— Expressen

A rich tale, characterised by moments of real pain and flowing, beautiful language... a writer who should not be missed.

—— Borås Tidning

Khemiri devises a portrait that looks into the darkest recesses of family life, and he does so with great compassion. Our daily travails and subtle humiliations are revealed to us in both quiet tragedy and farcical comedy. These are the parents we never wanted to be and probably all - in one way or another - ended up becoming. Seeing ourselves so clearly makes this compulsively readable.

—— Dr Bryce Lease, Royal Holloway, University of London

A great deal of recognition and a great deal of humour. I laughed often and wholeheartedly.

—— Aftonbladet

A subtle uprising, an understated process of liberation and a tender defence of the trials of attempting to hold a family together... It is full of empathy and subtle humour.

—— SvD

Jonas Hassen Khemiri steps on the gas as he portrays the stresses and betrayals of life with young children. In his new novel, the recognition factor is a source of both laughter and discomfort.

—— Sydsvenskan

A tender, shimmering novel that moves effortlessly yet reaches so far, that covers betrayal, loyalty and unwritten rules... it is a pure vitamin shot for its readers.

—— M-Magasin

An homage to female rage and the bonds of friendship, Supper Club will entice readers like a gourmet feast and leave them just as satisfied

—— Library Journal

Williams explores the complex relationship many women have with their deepest desires

—— Time (Summer Reading Highlights)

A bacchanalian homage to women's rage and female friendship

—— Courtney Maum, author of 'I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You'

You'll want to feast on this book

—— Cosmopolitan

A love letter to those friends, both retained and lost, who have an irrevocable influence on who we are and how we understand ourselves. It's a powerful interrogation of the current status of women within western societies. But it is also a provocation to demand more, a challenge to hold each other to account, and an enticement to celebrate the vibrancy of women's lives with the raucous abandon they deserve. It's the counter fairy tale: biting the apple brought wisdom and confidence, not a loss of consciousness. No prince necessary

—— Women’s Review of Books

Rebellious and subversive... Williams excels at visceral descriptions of bodies and food alike

—— Mail on Sunday

A bold and fresh story about food, friendship and feminism...compelling reading.

—— i

Bold, wild and witty

—— The Sunday Express

A small utopia celebrating the intoxications of female friendship and standing as a private bulwark against patriarchy

—— TIME Magazine

A meditation on life, death and the stories told about both.

—— UK Press Syndication

The fiction about fiction that takes the breath away… Quichotte expertly does it again.

—— Michael Wood , London Review of Books

Funny and touching and sad and oddly vulnerable, rather like its eponymous hero… [Quichotte is] compelling.

—— Lucasta Miller , Spectator

Rushdie is a master storyteller who weaves his fictions and characters into such agreeable tapestries.

—— Sarah Hayes , Tablet

The novel's dazzling virtuosity and cascade of cultural references culminate in a final moving moment of hope

—— Jane Shilling , Daily Mail
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