The Boy Who Fell to Earth

The Boy Who Fell To Earth is the thirteenth novel by Australian author, Kathy Lette. Lucy's marriage to Jeremy is perfect: he's rich, intelligent and attractive; she's witty, funny and attractive. But when their son Merlin is diagnosed, at the age of three years, as autistic, Jeremy runs off with his lover, a buxom TV chef, and the divorce is poisonous. Lucy is left, financially disadvantaged, to raise her special needs boy with minimal support.

This may all sound very depressing, except that Lette has such a clever turn of phrase that the book is filled with humour, much of it, of course, black. As Lucy describes her frustration in dealings with the bureaucracy of the social service world and the education system, as well as single parenthood of a special needs child, she elicits many laughs and the odd lump in the throat. Merlin is definitely the star of this book: more of the boy and less of his mother's sex life (or bemoaning the lack thereof) would have gained this tale a higher rating. A funny and very witty read.