The Henry Experiment

by Sophie Radice

Dramatised on Radio 4 Maggie O' Farrell called The Henry Experiment ' a smart, compelling literary thriller that asks big questions about our current attitudes to family and childhood. I read it in one sitting, staying up late into the night to finish it.' When Anna finds a small barefoot boy on Hampstead Heath she escorts him home. Expecting gratitude, she is met instead with hostility from his father, an expert on parenting who believes that boys aged seven must be seperated from their mothers and toughened up. Anna watches over odd, clever, unhappy Henry and strikes up a secret friendship with him. Henry becomes the pawn in an escalating and scary game as Anna and Henderson prowl around each other. As the tension mounts, and Henry's trails become more daunting and dangerous, the adults' own carefully reconstructed lives begin to unravel. The Henry Experiment raises questions about parenting and the responsbility adults have for other people's children. Where is the line between protection and interference?

Genres: Contemporary, Psychology

232 pages, Paperback

First published February 7, 2012

Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

The rating, any status updates, and those bookshelves, indicate my feelings for this book.

[Wendy Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an impeccable intelligent story of a troubled young woman called Anna who is forced to face her own dysfunction when she sees a little boy, Henry, walking barefoot in Hampstead Heath. Following him she discovers he is the experiment of a deluded and insane father who carries a very dark secret in his tormented soul. This wonderful novel is a thriller masquerading as a documentary. Page-turning towards the end when you really want to see justice done. For Henry. For Anna. A book for intelligent women tired of formulaic romance and crime. Highly recommended.

[Kris McCracken · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd rather shore this at 2.5, but the overly melodramatic conclusion prevents me from giving it the full 3 stars. I thought that the book was at its best when it was balancing the tension between the two competing ideological approaches to child-rearing, and could see a way that finds a path between the nuances between the extremes. From this perspective, it was disappointing to find that the author opted to plonk herself clearly on one side, reducing the position to mere caricature (and vaudeville villainy at that).

[Sean Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this as a radio drama. Some of the comments on the blog posts were amusing, and the idea itself was interesting, but as a story the plot suffered from perhaps a little too much realism.

[Ella Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant book I was strangely hooked even though not my usual cup of tea! Thought provoking and a good story!

[Annamaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting, well written and pacey