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Published Feb 2008
352 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
The Hunters are your typical family, with typical concerns—work, money, love, the trials of adolescence— with one difference: They are protected by a highly determined dog, their black Labrador, Prince. Prince views it as his sacred duty to defend his family and to guard its integrity. But what is he to do when the family's worst enemies are themselves?
Wry, perceptive, and heartbreaking, The Labrador Pact is a cunning and original take on domestic life in all its joy and disillusionment. Matt Haig has created an improbably poignant narrator in Prince, offering a truly unique perspective on the foibles of family relationships. As Prince uses every canine resource to keep the Hunter clan together, he finds himself confounded by the odd behavior of the humans he loves. To save the family, Prince must betray the ancient Pact of the Labradors—a decision that may cost him everything.
"[T]he narrative is skimpy and redundant, perilously cute and clogged with anticipations of Haig's Shakespeare-inflected The Dead Fathers Club ...by no means a failure, but Aesop and Orwell did it better." - Kirkus Reviews.
"There's nothing light-hearted about Prince: he's more like a middle-aged accountant than a healthy young canine. Nonetheless, for the dog-lover there's much to enjoy in The Last Family in England: read it curled up in front of the fire beside your own mutt, and bring tissues." - The Age, Australia.
"This debut novel is a winner from page one . . . A subtle, dog's-eye view of the frailty of human relationships, it is perceptive, enchanting and destined to be this summer's must-read." - Mail on Sunday.
"It sounds kooky, but Haig pulls it off stylishly and unsentimentally." - The Guardian.
This information about The Labrador Pact was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Kan Lailey
Matt Haig is the number one bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive, Notes on a Nervous Planet and six highly acclaimed novels for adults, including How to Stop Time, The Humans and The Radleys. His latest novel is The Midnight Library and the audiobook edition is read by Carey Mulligan. Haig also writes award-winning books for children, including A Boy Called Christmas, which is being made into a feature film with an all-star cast. He has sold more than a million books in the UK and his work has been translated into over forty languages.
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