Can an eleven-year-old boy succeed where others have failed? Can he recover a kidnapped child, disprove a false accusation of assault or win a sleep-deprivation competition that has driven others mad with tragic consequences?
He can, if he is accompanied by a black rooster, his protector and friend. And if he is Martin, orphaned after a massacre, full of wisdom, courage and a pure heart. Too good for the selfish and idiotic villagers around him, his integrity entrances an itinerant painter with whom he departs on a quest. His heroic adventures through a morally abhorrent landscape, physically ravaged by war and famine, keep the reader cheering for him and his companion as this fairy tale for adults unfolds.
Set against a pseudo-medieval post-apocalyptic backdrop reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy, Angela Carter and Missouri Williams, this bestselling novel shines with the inner radiance of good deed in a naughty world that will leave you haunted, horrified, and completely riveted.
Praise
‘A thoroughly entertaining story.’
— Declan O’Driscoll, The Irish Times
‘I absolutely love this book! The plot untangles perfectly, and I could smell and taste every scene. It feels like an old story, one of those that stays with you forever, but every part of it is surprising and wonderful. I want to go straight back and read it all again.’
— Siân Hughes, author of Pearl, longlisted for The Booker Prize 2023
‘This novel is a danse macabre, a memento mori, a vision of good and evil pared down to the bones. Boy with a Black Rooster beckons the reader into a nightmare landscape of war, famine, plague and madness, and Stefanie vor Schulte’s storytelling verve is such that we make the journey gladly.’
— Sam Thompson, author of Communion Town
‘Wow, what a book! Fabular but true, this meticulously crafted and deceptively simple tale stole my heart, broke it, and put it back together again. Vor Schulte is unflinching in her depiction of the worst of humankind, its cruelty and violence, but she also shows how love and kindness can flourish in even the darkest times. A beautiful, heart-rending book.’
— Victoria MacKenzie, author of For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain
‘This appears light as a feather, yet elaborately crafted all the same.’
— Rose-Maria Gropp in her laudatory speech for the Mara Cassens Prize
‘And – this is important – she has proven that for this there exists a language filled with poetry, wit and courage.’
— Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
‘Boy with a Black Rooster magnificently superimposes the probable with the improbable, all the while connecting life and death with great intelligence and narrative proficiency.’
— Pierre Deshusses , Le Monde des livres
‘A debut that is both admirable and truly unique.’
— Jean-Baptiste Hamelin, Page des Libraires
‘Halfway between macabre tale and surrealist epic, Boy with a Black Rooster, with its many ambiguities, is as reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch as it is of Giambattista Basile’s Tale of Tales (adapted for the cinema by Matteo Garrone).’
— Camille Thomine, Lire – magazine littéraire
‘A great rhythm, beautiful sentences, atmosphere: a joyful cultural experience.’
— Thomas Andre, Hamburger Abendblatt
‘Boy with a Black Rooster is gripping, uncanny, a look into the human abyss. And yet, there is magic in this child.’
— Peter Helling, NDR Kultur in Hamburg
‘Stefanie vor Schulte’s novel is full of poetic power and with a language characterised by images.’
— HR2 Kultur
‘Stefanie vor Schulte has presented an enigmatic debut of peculiar beauty.’
— Meike Schnitzler, Brigitte in Hamburg
‘Stefanie vor Schulte has composed this novel like a fairy tale for adults. Cruel, poetic, and with a fairytale ending. A wonderful debut.’
— Claudia Ingenhoven, NDR Kultur in Hanover
‘A ray of light in gloomy times, beautifully narrated and extraordinarily touching.’
— Dagmar Kaindl, Buchkultur
‘Stefanie vor Schulte’s sentences are short, concise and incredibly clear. And they are also intensely vivid.’
— Uwe Badouin, Oberhessische Presse
‘Stefanie vor Schulte’s novel demonstrates that it takes the wisdom of a child to understand cruelty.’
— Hannah Küppers, Sächsische Zeitung
‘This enigmatic plot, studded with symbols, and vor Schulte’s concise, distinctive narrative style will be remembered for a long time.’
— Ulrike Frenkel, Münchner Merkur
