I'll tell you first what a Coram boy is. Then I'll tell you about the Coram man.
It is the middle of the eighteenth century. Many babies, too many babies, are born into dreadful poverty. Their parents are too poor to feed and clothe them. Some babies are born to unmarried young women and they cannot be kept for fear of the public shame. What is to happen to all these babies? Well, they must go to the parish orphanages. But no-one in the parish orphanages will squander affection on these babies. Funds are only grudgingly given by the great and good of the parish. The babies die through neglect and disease.
Possibly, a baby might survive if he is taken in by the Coram Hospital. There he will be nurtured and educated until he is old enough to make his own way in the world. He is a Coram boy. There are Coram girls too. Captain Thomas Coram was a retired sea captain who founded the hospital as an act of charity. The Coram Foundation still exists today. In 1741 when Captain Coram founded his hospital there was a desperate need for such orphanages.
How could you part with your new-born son or daughter? It would be impossible, I think, unless you felt that you were giving your baby a better start in life than he might otherwise have. So, a man travels round the countryside collecting babies. You have to pay him to take your baby. He promises faithfully to deliver your precious baby to the Coram Hospital. He is the Coram man.
What does the Coram man do with the babies?
It was a hurried affair in all that wind and rain and darkness and the swinging light from the storm lantern, which Otis hung on a branch directly over the ditch. Otis plunged in his spade. Nothing too deep or careful. There was a lot of water. Just dig a hole deep enough to submerge the bundles. Foxes would do the rest. He wouldn't have bothered burying them had he not taken money for them and given undertakings. Otis dug and Meshak went from mule to mule, extricating one bundle after another from the panniers to hand to his father, who dropped them like seeds into the ditch.
The Coram man is clearly nothing to do with the Coram Hospital. He is making a living out of the misery of others. He is Otis Gardiner and he is evil.
This is the setting for this tense and emotional story. Here you meet Alexander Ashbrook, young heir to a great estate. Will Alexander really sacrifice his inheritance and dedicate his life to music? You also meet Melissa, who makes the catastrophic mistake of conceiving and giving birth to Alexander's illegitimate son. Through the slightest chain of circumstances the baby arrives as a foundling at the Coram Hospital, wrapped in the finest French cotton gown. But it might have been different - he passed through Otis Gardiner's hands ... Will Melissa ever see her son again?
Some of the scenes in this gruesome book are disturbing. It is undoubtedly a tragedy. There is teenage love but it is spoiled by the reality of life in the eighteenth century. You need to be a fairly mature reader to cope with the ideas discussed, but you may feel that the style of writing is aimed at rather younger readers. Don't let this put you off. It is a striking and memorable book.
See for yourself. Highly recommended!
What do you think about ‘Coram Boy’?
Richard, boy, age 12, from London, Erith, United Kingdom, on 10th November 2008. Rating: 10/10
I thought this book was an amazing book as I'm a person who likes to read a lot and I'd never read any book like this before. When we were first told what we were going to read in English I thought it was going to be quite boring yet I started to read it and then I didn't want to stop! My favourite part was when Melissa, Alexander and their son, Aaron, met up near the end I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about music, Love + Hate,History and adventure or if you're somebody in secondary school or above! Amazing book! Well done Jamila Gavin.
lyra, girl, age 10, from london, United Kingdom, on 6th July 2007. Rating: 7/10
I think it is a good book because a)it shows how lucky we are not to be born in time like that, b)it gets really intimate and I know that some people won't like it but it prepares us for what its like and c)it gets exciting especially when Alexander Ashbrook,Thomas Ledbury and Otis have a fight. When I read the first chapter I allowed myself not to understand it because I didn't like the sound of the book and it did not have a brilliant cover but when I forced myself to read it the pure quality of it surprised me.I quite liked it on the whole.I would recomend it to anyone aged 9 and above.
S, girl, age 12, from Guildford, United Kingdom, on 13th January 2007. Rating: 10/10
I first started reading Coram Boy in English Reading at school about a week ago. We were doing a project in small groups. Anyway, on the day our group got this book, we also recieved homework to read a certain amount of chapters minimum. I really love reading, so as soon as I got home, I neglected all my other homework and started to read the book. First of all, I read the 'Foreword' by Jamila Gavin herself, which actually got me interested in the story. And from the first sentence in the 'Prologue', I was gripped. I came to love the characters of Melissa, Thomas, Alexander, Isobel, Aaron, and Toby in their own way. Some of the scenes in the book I found hilarious, such as the time when Thomas tells the tale of 'Dawdley Dan'. Some I found very sweet, such as the time when Alexander and Melissa have that most tender moment. And some I found heartbreaking, and found myself in tears, such as the moment where Melissa and Alexander are at the graves, and it seems as if everyone important has died. In my opinion, Jamila Gavin has brought to light all the important matters in eighteenth century England, like the horrors of teenage pregancy especially if that child is illegitimate, the hardships of young children and the restricted lives that children of important men led. And she also tells the reader of these matters in a way that anyone can understand. Reading all the comments here about the book, I would say I am torn between being enraged by the comments that put the book in a negative light, and agreeing with everyone who enjoyed the book. I wold recommend this book to anyone above the age of 12, due to the few moments in the book where there are some intimate and awkward moments. On the whole, I feel that, to truly understand this book, you must be very mature and appreciate history.
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