Little Hands Clapping

The darkest, most twisted novel yet from the author of Timoleon Vieta Come Home.

In a room above a bizarre German museum, and far from the prying eyes of strangers, lives the Old Man. Caretaker of the museum by day, by night he enjoys the sound of silence, broken only by the occasional mysterious thud from a room upstairs. Little Hands Clapping brings together the Old Man with the respectable Doctor Ernst Fröhlicher, his greedy dog Hans and a cast of grotesque and hilarious townsfolk, all of whose lives are thrown together as the town uncovers a crime so outrageous that it will shock the world.

From its sinister opening to its explosive denouement, Little Hands Clapping blends lavishly entertaining storytelling with Rhodes’s macabre imagination, entrancing originality and magical touch.

Praise for Little Hands Clapping:

After reading Rhodes’s book, many little hands should be clapping very loudly indeed.

Guardian

Rhodes manages to turn this knockabout plot into an amusing fable about thwarted altruism and good intentions gone askew. It should please cynical idealists and idealistic cynics alike.

Financial Times

While never losing sight of the monstrousness that ensnares his characters, Rhodes remains gloriously, mordantly funny…

The Independent

After reading Rhodes’s book, many little hands should be clapping very loudly indeed.

Guardian

Rhodes manages to turn this knockabout plot into an amusing fable about thwarted altruism and good intentions gone askew. It should please cynical idealists and idealistic cynics alike.

Financial Times

While never losing sight of the monstrousness that ensnares his characters, Rhodes remains gloriously, mordantly funny…

The Independent