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The Wrong Boy
The Wrong Boy
Nov 27, 2025 2:08 AM

Author:Willy Russell

The Wrong Boy

The hilarious, bittersweet novel from the playwright behindEDUCATING RITA, SHIRLEY VALENTINE and award-winning musical BLOOD BROTHERS.

Dear Morrissey,

I'm feeling dead depressed and down. Like a streetlamp without a bulb or a goose at the onset of Christmas time.

Anyroad, I thought I'd pen a few lines to someone who'd understand...

It's 1991. Raymond Marks is a normal boy, from a normal family, in a normal northern town. Only lately, he's been feeling dead down. His dad left home after falling in love with a five-string banjo. His fun-hating grandma believes she should have married Jean-Paul Sartre: 'I could never read his books, but y' could tell from his picture, there was nothing frivolous about John-Paul Sartre.' Felonious Uncle Jason and Appalling Aunty Paula are lusting after the satellite dish.

And so he turns to the one person who'll understand what he's going through: Morrissey. Told through a series of heartfelt letters to the frontman of The Smiths, this is a laugh-out-loud funny, incredibly poignant tale from a character you can't help but love.

'Big-hearted, wonderfully funny and engrossing' THE MIRROR

'A warm, funny, poignant story. I loved The Wrong Boy - and so will you' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

'A comic masterpiece' BEL MOONEY, MAIL ON SUNDAY

Reviews

A big-hearted, wonderfully funny and engrossing saga.

—— The Mirror

Unusual, funny, unsettling and rich with sadness.

—— The Times

A warm, funny, poignant story. I loved The Wrong Boy - and so will you.

—— Sunday Telegraph

A comic masterpiece.

—— Bel Mooney , Mail on Sunday

Willy Russell's triumph is to have created an unforgettable character, both unique and an Everyman.

—— Mail on Sunday

'It will be surprising if this year sees a more disturbing or haunting novel'

—— Peter Kemp , The Sunday Times

'Stunning . . . evocatively brings to life the stifling humidity and constant rainfall of the Congo'

—— John Cooper , The Times

'A really brilliant first novel, he is obviously a major talent'

—— Prunella Scales

'The match of the madder moments of John Irving or Tom Sharpe...this is a promisingly entertaining "lite" read'

—— The Times

'At its best when taking pot-shots at a wide variety of modern ills - fast food, tabloid media, downsizing, soap-opera politics...One of Morgan's nicer inventions is a computer program that boils down complex texts to their essentials. Its treatment of the Old Testament renders it down to: "Because I say so, that's why"'

—— Independent

'Suspenseful, atmospheric and highly intelligent, Jody Shields focuses a brilliant light on the murky world of imperial Vienna'

—— D. M. Thomas
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