Michael de Larrabeiti, author, born in Lambeth, London in 1934, currently lives in Oxfordshire.

He is best known as the author of the Borrible trilogy. Borribles are pointy-eared children who remain twelve years old forever, unless their ears are clipped by the police who seek to turn them back into responsible members of society. The Borrible trilogy has been compared to J. M. Barrie's classic children's book, Peter Pan; however, although Borribles never grow up physically or socio-economically their spiritual and intellectual growth is immense: they're as wise as mountains, tough as old boots and crafty as curates, hundreds of years old, some of 'em. Stealing just enough food to survive, they live in abandoned houses and sewers, existing on the edge of a dull adult world. Borribles never touch money.

The series revolves around eight Borribles, each one from a different borough of London, who are chosen to be Adventurers. The Eight are the quick-witted Vulge, the upbeat Bingo, the cynical Napoleon Boot, Stonks the strong guy, Chalotte the tough girl, Sydney the sensitive girl, Torreycanyon the mechanic and the token black Orococco. Four other major characters are Knocker, their trainer; Spiff, the bathrobe-wearing mastermind; Adolf, the visitor from Germany; and Twilight, a Bangladeshi.

The series is also notable that each book is more serious and better written than the last. In the first, the Eight fight a comical menace: bipedal, lisping rats called Rumbles. In the next book, thoroughly sick of seing people die during the vain pursuit for glory and money, the main characters struggle to free some friends from other Borribles. In the last book of the trilogy, the protagonists risk capture by the police just to smuggle a beloved horse to safety.

Though written as young adult fiction, the books deal with serious themes, most notably the debate over what causes are noble enough to die for and which aren't.

The Borrible Trilogy

• The Borribles (1976)
• The Borribles Go for Broke (1981)
• The Borribles: Across the Dark Metropolis (1986)

• Reissued in one volume as The Borrible Trilogy (2002)

Other Novels

• The Redwater Raid (1972)
• A Rose Beyond the Thames (1978)
• The Bunce (1980)
• Full Marks (1981)
• Jeeno, Heloise and Igamor, the Long, Long Horse (1983)
• The Hollywood Takes (1983)
• Journal of a Sad Hermaphrodite (1992)
• Foxes' Oven (2002)
• French Leave (2002)

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