The One-in-a-Million Boy: The touching novel of a 104-year-old woman's friendship with a boy you'll never forget…
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By Monica Wood
avg rating
2 reviews
She may be 104 years old, but Ona Vitkus is on a mission and it’s all because of THE ONE-IN-A-MILLION-BOY…
Monica Wood’s unforgettable novel about a boy in a million and the 104-year-old woman who saves his family is not to be missed by readers who loved THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY, ELIZABETH IS MISSING or THE SHOCK OF THE FALL.
‘A lovely, quirky novel about misfits across generations’ Daily Mail
‘A bittersweet story about finding friendship in the most unlikely of places’ Good Housekeeping.
The story of your life never starts at the beginning. Don’t they teach you anything at school?So says 104-year-old Ona to the 11-year-old boy who’s been sent to help her out every Saturday morning. As he refills the bird feeders and tidies the garden shed, Ona tells him about her long life, from first love to second chances. Soon she’s confessing secrets she has kept hidden for decades.
One Saturday, he doesn’t show up. Ona starts to think he’s not so special after all, but then his father Quinn arrives on her doorstep, determined to finish his son’s good deed. The boy’s mother is not so far behind. Ona is set to discover that even at her age the world can surprise you, and that sometimes sharing a loss is the only way to find yourself again.
What readers are saying about ONE IN A MILLION BOY:
‘Delightful, quirky and heart-warming’
‘A richly layered novel of hearts broken seemingly beyond repair and then bound by a stunning act of human devotion’
‘With heart-breaking and emotional moments intertwined with humour and love, THE ONE IN A MILLION BOY proves it’s never too late to make new friends’
TweetReviews
I did enjoy The One In A Million Boy, but perhaps not as much as I thought I would. After reading the blurb I was sure it was going to be rated highly by me, but it just didn’t quite live up to my expectations. However, that being said, it is worth a look because it is well written.
Ona… I loved the character of Ona, and wished I had my own Ona in my life. I loved the journey that Quinn goes on, and their relationship is really quite beautiful. I could have happily read more about them, and less about Belle; it annoyed me that she jumped on the Ona ‘bandwagon.’
Wood presented Ona telling her life in an original way, and it was surprising easy to ‘fill in the blanks.’ I’d like to say that the World Records added something to the story, but I found myself skim reading them for British entries, and ignoring the rest.
Wood really has a way with descriptions, and has created some beautiful imagery within the novel; however I wish it had ended differently as it left me quite cold.
Life affirming? Possibly. Full of charm? Ona certainly is. Worth reading? Yes.
I very much liked the characters and the way the book unfolded, the idea of time being relative and that we all shut down parts of our memories that are too hard to consider. The parallel plotting of Ona and Belle unfurled very nicely, and of their two under appreciated musical husbands, who were torn between selfishness, work and family; the whole idea of what providing for your family is, and what is required of a father, of which there were so many in the book. In the end perhaps Ted Ledbitter was the dreamer, desperate to transform the lives of those around him. It reminded me of Jon McGregor's 'If nobody speaks of remarkable things', which was far more esoteric, being more written as an exercise for the writer, but which is also less engaging for the reader.
I'm off to read the free ebook 'One in a million woman' now.
