The Death Defying Pepper Roux

By Geraldine McCaughrean

Imagine knowing that your life was limited, that you would leave the world on a day already decided, that you would die at the age of fourteen. Paul ‘Pepper’ Roux has known right from birth that he would die on his fourteenth birthday. His whole life has been spent preparing him for death and trying to please Saint Constance and the angels that await him in heaven. But Pepper doesn’t want to die, not yet at least; he runs away and dodges fate, surviving his fourteenth birthday and many more days. He encounters a series of people and steps into one great adventure in which he meets many friends (and some enemies!).

Pepper is the main character in the novel but he meets many people on his journeys including customers from the supermarket, telegraph boys and Yvette Roche. However, although I liked Pepper and the way everyone just accepted and believed him, my absolute favourite character in the book was Duchesse. He had a really caring streak running through all of his actions and words and this, along with the fact that he was written so well and made me laugh, is why I picked him. Pepper first meets Duchesse on a boat where he is Pepper’s steward and the man immediately takes to looking after the boy- it is their little secret that Pepper is not who he says he is. The two friends are separated near the start of the book but finally meet up again nearing the end of the novel.

I really enjoyed this book and I thought it was ever so well written. I loved the way that McCaughrean describes what pepper sees and how her descriptions always seem so real. They are fun and make the world come to life. I thought that the way she made the book so light and easy to step in and out of was amazing. Pepper seemed to jump from one life to the next and constantly believe the angels were after him. This in particular made me laugh as he took every bad thing that happened to anyone on his own shoulders and blamed himself, foolishly believing the accidents were meant for him and him only.

My favourite ‘life’ of pepper’s was when he was on the boat with Duchesse as it was interesting and exciting. Despite this though, I enjoyed the final scenes too when Pepper is at the tower because it brought all the characters together and showed off all Pepper’s names and lives at once. I thought this was a great twist in the plot and made the book even better and more interesting to read!

Overall I really enjoyed this book as it was very well written with charming characters like Pepper and Duchesse. I thought that the plot was interesting as Pepper’s life was constantly changing as he moved from job to job and place to place. McCaughrean made all the scenery and everyday settings seem alive and real with her fantastic and unique way of describing it. At times the wording was a little strange and some people may find this hard to overcome but, otherwise it was a great book. In my opinion this book was amazing and funny; I would definitely recommend it to anyone as it full of different genres and lives.

By Eleanor Lavender

Year 8