Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch

We meet Jaffy Brown, the hero of this wonderful book, when he is only eight and is being rescued from the jaws of a Bengal tiger being transported through the London streets by its owner, Mr. Jamrach, who rewards him for his bravery – and, one suspects, to quell any hint of scandal – with a raspberry cream puff and a job cleaning the animals' cages at his menagerie.
Mr. Jamrach plays an important role in Jaffy's life, but the one thing he does that he probably regrets is to send young Jaffy aboard a ship in search of a dragon. The mythical best is found, captured, and his care in captivity is left in Jaffy's capable hands. Only it does not go very well, and as is so often the case , the dragon is a tipping phenomena. Once he is on board, one thing after another goes wrong until the ship is sunk, and a handful of the crew survive to float upon the open sea with few provisions, little water, and diminishing hope of rescue, they resort to the worst case scenario tactics and poor Jaffy is haunted by his actions in those days before the few that remain are rescued for the rest of his life.
All this trauma is juxatposed by having to reintegrate into a life of family and friends who are thrilled to have him back--it is like soldiers returning home from war--their loved ones may hear the details of their ordeal, but no one can make such horror rreal for them, so there is a division between them that cannot help but persist. The grizzly details are bouyantly delivered in an unforgetable tale. This is the first of the 2011 Man Booker prize long listed books that I have read, but it is spectacular.