The Dead Fathers Club

By Matt Haig

Eleven-year-old Philip Noble is a boy in crisis: his father just died in a car accident. And now his Uncle Alan is making moves on Philip’s mother. And the family pub. Oh, yeah, and Philip’s father’s ghost is telling Philip to avenge his death by killing Alan. Sound familiar? It ought to, as it is perhaps the most clever version of Hamlet that I have ever read. Very, very clever.

Written from Philip’s point of view, this is a touching, sometimes sad, and sometimes amusing retelling of the Prince of Denmark’s tragedy. I loved it, and I recommend it.

3/1/07