The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart (Vintage Contemporaries)

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A wildly original, fantastical adventure of love and heartbreakand an animated movie, Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heartthat takes us from Edinburgh to Paris to Andalusia to tell the story of a boy who discovers the great joys and ultimately the greater costs, of owning a fully formed heart. Edinburgh, 1874. Born with a frozen heart, Jack is near death when his mother abandons him to the care of Dr. Madeleinewitch doctor, midwife, protector of orphanswho saves Jack by placing a cuckoo clock in his chest. And it is in her orphanage that Jack grows up among tear-filled flasks, eggs containing memories, and a man with a musical spine. As Jack gets older, Dr. Madeleine warns him that his heart is too fragile for strong emotions: he must never, ever fall in love. And, of course, this is exactly what he does: on his tenth birthday and with head-over-heels abandon. The object of his ardor is Miss Acaciaa bespectacled young street performer with a soul-stirring voice. But now Jacks life is doubly at riskhis heart is in danger and so is his safety after he injures the school bully in a fight for the affections of the beautiful singer.