April 15, 2021
Twelve-year-old Norman Foreman and his best friend, Jax, are a self-styled comedy duo with a plan to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe, but Jax's unexpected death changes all that. Norman's mother, Sadie, understands his sense of loss; after all, Sadie's series of one-night stands following her father's death resulted in Norman himself, and she's never felt that she is doing enough to give Norman what he needs. With a lot of help from Sadie's elderly friend, Leonard, Sadie and Norman embark on a journey to get to the Edinburgh Fringe for Norman to perform on his own, looking for Norman's father along the way, and discovering a sense of self-worth none of them had but all needed. Henderson's debut novel charms in its descriptions of the trio, each of whom feels a sense of inadequacy but ultimately has so much more to offer than they'd dreamed. Alternating narration allows the reader to see what Sadie and Norman initially cannot. Humor, heart, and hopefulness make Norman Foreman a winner for fans of Julia Claiborne Johnson's Be Frank with Me (2016) and R. J. Palacio's Wonder (2012).
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October 13, 2020
Norman Foreman isn’t your average 12-year-old: he’s obsessed with classic British comedy, he’s got raging psoriasis, and he and his best mate Jax have a five-year plan to perform stand-up at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival by the time they’re 15. But when Jax dies suddenly, Norman’s world falls apart—and his mum, Sadie, decides to enact a wild new plan to help piece it back together again. When she and Norman embark on a road trip to Scotland with Sadie’s friend Leonard, a surprisingly IT-savvy retiree, they’re on a mission to achieve two potentially impossible goals: find out who Norman’s father is, and bring forward Norman and Jax’s Edinburgh Fringe dream by three years. But can Norman—always the straight man in his double act with Jax—survive on stage alone? And can Sadie overcome the grief she’s been carrying since before Norman was born? While the outcome of Julietta Henderson’s big-hearted debut novel is never really in doubt, The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman serves up plenty of rollicking misadventures and cathartic heartstring tugs along the way. The literary equivalent of a feelgood British comedy film, this is a larger-than-life tale about coming to terms with profound loss. It's a page-turning summer read for fans of writers such as Graeme Simsion, David Nicholls and Sue Townsend.
Carody Culver is senior editor at Griffith Review and a freelance writer.