''Boxer, Beetle'' is a novel by British author

Ned Beauman Ned Beauman (born 1985) is a British novelist, journalist and screenwriter. The author of five novels, he was selected as one of the Best of Young British Novelists by ''Granta'' magazine in 2013. Biography Born in London, Beauman is the son of ...

. It was first published by

Sceptre A sceptre (or scepter in American English) is a Staff of office, staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of regalia, royal or imperial insignia, signifying Sovereignty, sovereign authority. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and M ...

on 5 August 2010. The novel was shortlisted for the

Guardian First Book Award The Guardian First Book Award was a literary award presented by ''The Guardian'' newspaper. It annually recognised one book by a new writer. It was established in 1999, replacing the Guardian Fiction Award or Guardian Fiction Prize that the newspa ...

in 2010.

Overview

The story is divided into two parallel arcs, one occurring in modern-day London and the other in 1930s England. The initial connection between the two narratives occurs in 2010 when a

Nazi memorabilia Nazi memorabilia are items produced during the height of Nazism in Germany, particularly the years between 1933 and 1945. Nazi memorabilia includes a variety of objects from the material culture of Nazi Germany, especially those featuring swastik ...

collector discovers a hand-written note from

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. The letter is addressed to Doctor Erskine, a young aristocrat and

eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...

researcher. Evidently, he had sent a gift to Hitler and it had been very well received. The finder of the note, “Fishy”, so called because of a rare medical condition that causes the sufferer’s sweat to smell of rotten fish, appeals to the users of a Nazi memorabilia message board to help in solving the mystery.

Reception

The novel has received broadly positive reviews. Scarlett Thomas of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote that it was a "gripping and clever" story, and while the parts of the novel set in the modern day "occasionally strays too far into postmodern whimsy", the parts of the novel set in the 1930s are "wonderfully evoked, and ..taut, thematically rich and extremely well written". She added that Beauman had successfully "take an old and predictable structure and allow dit to produce new and unpredictable connections." Keith Miller of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' described parts of the book as "very funny" with a "smooth narrative flow" and praised the relationship between Seth and Erskine, but believed that parts of the rest of the book were "narratively overdetermined". Rob Sharp of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' concluded that it was "a fine debut: clever, inventive, intelligently structured, genre-spanning, ..and above all, an enjoyable, high-octane read through a fascinating period in history."

References

{{Reflist 2010 British novels Novels set in London Fiction set in the 1930s Sceptre (imprint) books