Books with author Leon Garfield

Young William Jones is on a desperate search through darkest London for John Diamond, the son of a man his father apparently once cheated badly. Will he find him? Originally published in the United States as Footsteps, John Diamond "combines a cast of remarkable eccentrics with superb sensory descriptions" (The Horn Book). The title was a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book.

Life in eighteenth-century London was hard and especially so for the city's apprentices. For seven long years they struggled for their livelihoods among the fetid houses and sinister quays of old London. But despite their hardships there was hope and even fun.This compelling story-cycle follows them round the year, through the dark, cold winter nights to midsummer in the city, The lamplighter, the pawnbroker, the midwife or the clockmaker, their stories interweave delightfully to paint a colourful picture of life in London 200 years ago.

"Leon Garfield is unmatched for sheer, exciting storytelling." --Lloyd AlexanderThis brilliant, picaresque novel follows the adventures of an illiterate young ragamuffin known only as Smith. Smith picks the pocket of a stranger, only to witness immediately the strangers murder. Smiths booty from the theft is an Important Document, no doubt worth quite a lot to somebody, which is proved by the pursuit of Smith by two very shady characters. Smith artfully dodges them and winds up in the odd company of a wealthy blind man, who takes Smith into his home and provides him with an education. But this new comfort is lost when Smith himself is suspected of the very murder he witnessed. Smith was a Boston Globe--Horn Book Honor Book, winner of the Phoenix Award, and a Carnegie Honor Book.

"Leon Garfield is unmatched for sheer, exciting storytelling." -- Lloyd AlexanderA swarthy villain, nearly seven foot tall and presumed hanged, seems to wake from the dead in the presence of young Bartholomew Dorking. Having outwitted the noose, Black Jack enlists the unwilling boy to be his companion. Together they weave their way through the seamiest parts of old London, a traveling circus, and a private madhouse where forgotten lunatics are chained in empty rooms, and from which Bartholomew rescues Belle, a girl who may not be mad at all. Culminating in a ground-shaking climax, this strange and rich novel, whose 1979 film adaptation was shown at the Cannes International Film Festival, will enrapture readers young and old.

'Him what's born on the chime . . . he's the one what'll have communications with the devil.'At the age of fourteen, 'chime-child' Peter Gannet is apprenticed to a locksmith in Covent Garden. But his desperate longing to escape from the insufferable adults around him and go to sea leads him into some dubious undertakings. Before long, the old ship's carpenter's dire prophecy comes true, for in the locksmith's workroom he meets a phantom with an empty sleeve.Tense and atmospheric, this is a gripping thriller about ghosts, a wall of hands, envy, dishonesty and finally murder!

On the night that Piggot’s Comet will appear over Brighton, the town plan to honour it with music and dancing. Harris, however, has other ideas. Being scientifically minded, he thinks only of observing the comet in detail. He persuades his good friend Bostock to part with his father’s telescope in exchange for the affections of Harris’s sister, Mary. Unfortunately, as Mary does not care for Bostock, Harris is forced to apply his powerful mind to the problems of courtship and love.