About the book
A rare gift.
An unlikely beginning.
Thirteen-year-old Abraham Dove is an outcast.
Ragged, fatherless and living in poverty with his widowed mother, he roams the fields and streets of Salisbury, speaking to almost no one. To most, he is a troublesome vagrant.
But Abraham possesses a remarkable secret.
With no formal training, he can carve wood and shape clay with breathtaking realism, capturing the life and spirit of every bird, animal and person he observes. His extraordinary talent is discovered only after a reckless climb to the top of Salisbury Cathedral’s towering spire brings him to the attention of John Pearce, the Cathedral’s Clerk of Works.
Recognising a rare genius hidden beneath the boy’s wild exterior, Pearce sets out to change Abraham’s future. Yet talent alone is not enough. Poverty, prejudice, loneliness and the expectations of Victorian society stand in the way of a young craftsman determined to find his place in the world.
Richly woven with the sights, sounds and craftsmanship of nineteenth-century England, The Woodcarver is a lyrical and deeply human tale of hidden genius, quiet devotion and the redemptive power of making. As Pearce draws Abraham from the shadows, both must face suspicion, jealousy and the harsh weight of a rigid society that fears what it cannot explain.