From the Man Booker Prize-winning author of Life of Pi comes a modern and imaginative retelling of the epic Trojan War

From the Man Booker Prize-winning author of Life of Pi comes a modern and imaginative retelling of the epic Trojan War. 'Stunningly imagined' Kirkus Reviews 'The past is never done with- always the song continues.' Harlow Donne has sacrificed his life to the study of the Classical world. So when he is invited to Oxford University to work on an obscure collection of papyrus fragments it is an academic's dream come true. He must leave behind his daughter and wife in Canada, but offers like this don't come twice and he badly needs a change of fortune. Then, while studying in the Bodleian Library, he unearths a completely undiscovered account of the Trojan War, a glimpse into the founding of Western civilisation itself. He names the poem The Psoad, after its protagonist, a commoner identified only as Psoas, the son of nobody. As sole translator and author of The Psoad, Harlow dedicates the poem and its footnotes to his daughter Helen, allowing the text to unlock the echoes of the ancient Greeks into the present day, and to share a personal message with his beloved child. Despite the two-thousand-year gap between the two, a thread hasn't frayed- the universal song of homesickness and regret, of ambition, love and grief. In this masterpiece of myth, history and domesticity, Son of Nobody explores how stories become facts, the price we pay to share them and how we live-then, now and always. PRAISE- 'Perfect for readers who love history, myth, and philosophical storytelling.' ArtPlus 'Ingenious... Martel bring s a witty freshness to standard elements of Homeric narrative.' New York Times 'Takes an iconic story - The Illiad - and finds a way to retell it as gripping as it is original.' QANTAS Magazine 'Original, thought-provoking, and utterly absorbing' Booklist, starred review 'A breathtaking feat of imagination.' Readings Monthly ''Harlow's voice is nuanced, clever, and learned...a fascinating read for any lover of Greek myth.' Raven Book Store

Details

ISBN13: 9781923058811
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 352
Edition:
Publication Date: 31 Mar 2026
Publisher: Text Publishing
Publication City, Country: Melbourne, Australia
Dimensions (cm): 23.3(H)x15.5(L)x2.5(W)435
Weight (gm): 435

Author Biography

Yann Martel is the author of a short story collection, The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, and of four novels, Life of Pi (for which he was awarded the 2002 Man Booker Prize), Self, Beatrice & Virgil, and The High Mountains of Portugal. Life of Pi was adapted for the silver screen by Ang Lee, garnering four Oscars. Martel also ran a guerilla book club with Stephen Harper, sending the former prime minister of Canada a book every two weeks for four years. The letters that accompanied the books were published as 101 Letters to a Prime Minister. Martel lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with the writer Alice Kuipers and their four children.

Reviews

‘A brilliant novel of ideas….a powerful meditation on life, death, and the vanity of human wishes, all illustrated by a poem that would do Homer proud. A stunningly imagined revisitation of an ancient past that is every bit as awful as the present.’ * Kirkus Reviews [starred review] *
‘An appealing labor of love.’ * Publishers Weekly *
‘…a classical scholar uncovers a lost account of the Trojan war. The translated poem unfolds at the top of the page, with heartfelt footnotes addressed to his young daughter below, in a meditation on mythmaking, homemaking and storytelling.’ * Guardian *
‘The much-loved author of 2001’s Life of Pi is back with a new novel. Known for his ability to balance intricate narratives with epic stories philosophical questioning, Martel’s Son of Nobody connects the lives of a foot soldier in the Trojan War with an academic who has abandoned his family life for his studies. A beautiful story about what we can learn from the past when it comes to homesickness, grief, love and ambition.’ * Elle Magazine *
‘Another staggering and insightful novel of ideas.’ * Y! Entertainment *
‘Perfect for readers who love history, myth, and philosophical storytelling.’ * ArtPlus *
‘Takes an iconic story – The Illiad – and finds a way to retell it as gripping as it is original.’ * QANTAS Magazine *
'Original, thought-provoking, and utterly absorbing… [An] inventive novel about a classics scholar who makes a thrilling discovery.' * Booklist, starred review *