The Marvels

　　故事開始於1766年的一場船難。比利．漫威（Billy Marvel），悲劇的唯一倖存者，獨自一人試著重返社會，直到他在倫敦劇院找到一份演員工作，並展開一段跨越五個世代的戲劇王朝之旅。



　　1990年，約瑟夫（Joseph Jervis）逃離寄宿學校，投靠他從未見過的遠房親戚：艾伯特叔叔。正當約瑟夫掙扎著在這世上尋找一塊屬於他的立足之地時，卻也正誤打誤撞，揭開了漫威家族錯綜複雜，卻又與約瑟夫命運相繫的一連串秘密。



　　《The Marvels》是《雨果的秘密》作者Brian Selznick創新之作，本書最特別之處在於內容分為兩大部分，約400頁的篇幅是插畫，三分之一的篇幅則是文字描述。插圖和散文提供了兩個不同的故事，但在小說結尾，作者卻巧妙地匯集兩個看似不相關的故事架構，創造出一個複雜、但卻有十足凝聚力的故事。



　　充滿活力的人物描寫，再加上曲折的故事情節，全新的創作經驗，《The Marvels》將是你2015年必讀的最佳創意小說。

A breathtaking new voyage from Caldecott Medalist Brian Selznick.

Two stand-alone stories--the first in nearly 400 pages of continuous pictures, the second in prose--create a beguiling narrative puzzle.

The journey begins at sea in 1766, with a boy named Billy Marvel. After surviving a shipwreck, he finds work in a London theatre. There, his family flourishes for generations as brilliant actors until 1900, when young Leontes Marvel is banished from the stage.

Nearly a century later, runaway Joseph Jervis seeks refuge with an uncle in London. Albert Nightingale's strange, beautiful house, with its mysterious portraits and ghostly presences, captivates Joseph and leads him on a search for clues about the house, his family, and the past.

A gripping adventure and an intriguing invitation to decipher how the two stories connect, The Marvels is a loving tribute to the power of story from an artist at the vanguard of creative innovation.

作者簡介

布萊恩．賽茲尼克 Brian Selznick

　　2008年以《雨果的祕密》（The Invention of Hugo Cabret）榮獲美國凱迪克金牌獎，並曾以《霍金斯的恐龍世界》（The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins）榮獲凱迪克銀牌獎、《惠特曼：寫給美國的詩句》（Walt Whitman: Words for America）榮獲美國《紐約時報》最佳插畫獎、《勇者的歌聲》（When Marian Sang）獲頒美國希伯特銀牌獎…其筆下諸多知名繪本與小說獲獎無數。擔任過舞台設計和操偶師。如果他沒有飛到世界各地蒐集創作資料、談論自己的作品，就 會住在美國加州的聖地牙哥，或者紐約市的布魯克林。

　　In addition to The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick is the illustrator of the Caldecott Honor winner, The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, and the New York Times Best Illustrated Walt Whitman: Words for America, both by Barbara Kerley, as well as the Sibert Honor Winner When Marian Sang, by Pam Munoz Ryan, and numerous other celebrated picture books and novels. Brian has also worked as a set designer and a puppeteer. When he isn't traveling to research and talk about his work all over the world, he lives in San Diego, California, and Brooklyn, New York.