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在衰弱的罗马帝国时，有一名孤儿叫Jacob，而这是他的故事。喜欢Shuggie Bain或 A Little Life的读者会在Jacob的身上感到相同的疼惜。Jacob是四世纪罗马帝国西班牙的童奴，读者绝对会为了他流下不少泪水。

《麻雀》叙述了Jacob的故事，他是一名孤儿，在西班牙海岸上的一家妓院成长。麻雀是他的小名，他喜欢唱歌，有天希望自己能展翅高飞。他的整个世界就是这里的厨房、充满香草的花苑、充满危险的小酒馆以及神秘的“楼上”—在这里，“狼们“进行着他们神秘的生意。他成天听”母亲“跟他说故事，有时间就帮”母亲“的爱人厨师跑腿，同时尽量不要惹到老板的愤怒。麻雀一生将经历不少悲痛、挫败、暴力，身边爱惜他的人少之又少，但他一直生存着。

《麻雀》再现了一个失落的旧异教罗马世界，因为它的准则和道德让位于新的基督教宗教，并向读者介绍了近期小说中最有影响力和最令人难忘的人物之一。

关于作者：

James Hynes是Next, The Lecturer’s Tale, and Publish and Perish的作者。他的文章在《纽约时报》、《华盛顿邮报》、《波士顿评论》等报刊刊登过。他曾参加过Iowa Writers’ Workshop也在University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, Miami University, Grinnell College, and the University of Texas担任文学写作的教授。

好评：

‘James Hynes’s unnerving, exhilarating, unflinching portrayal of sex, slavery and sisterhood takes the reader to one of the most pitiless backstreets of the Roman Empire in its final years only to discover there – between the violence and the suffering, amid the Decline and the Fall – enduring tenderness and love. This is a novel of ancient times for our times. And it is splendid, a work of scorching distinction.’ -- Jim Crace

"I absolutely sobbed...it was so compelling and I couldn't stop thinking about Sparrow all day, everyday.  Like Young Mungo, you're waiting for something horrendous to happen, it's hard to read when it gets to that, but you just want to read on to make sure he's going to be okay and make it through. I had to read the ending 4 times because I wanted the dream to be real! I loved it, but also, so sad!"—Macmillan CEO Joanna Prior