The skies of Oxford are aflame with meteors the night Edgar Jones comes into the world—clearly this is no ordinary boy. While his mother is apprehensive about her restless, inquisitive child, Edgar’s father believes, without a doubt, that his son is destined for greatness. To his father’s dismay, Edgar turns his back on the scholarly life and apprentices himself to a blacksmith, but it is not long before his ingenuity and metalworking skill brings him to the attention of a maverick professor at Oxford University, a bone collector with plans for a museum of natural history. Finally Edgar has the opportunity to showcase his singular gifts, but at what cost to himself and his family? Darkly satisfying and compulsively readable,The Ingenious Edgar Jonesis an unforgettable coming-of-age story about the complexities of family life and the journey of one young man as he finds his place in a rapidly changing world. "Garner has made—or unmade—her own visionary Oxford in an enjoyable and eloquent novel." —Times London "Elizabeth Garner successfully draws the reader into her gothic maze of stony streets, thorny thickets, and Machiavellian professors...Garner is also caustic about Oxford's mythical appeal and stacks up a magpie's nest of bright details." —Guardian "Darkly atmospheric...A delight to curl up with." —Metro(London) "Magical, disturbing, and yet utterly compelling." —London Paper