Coratn Boy tells the story of Meshak Gardiner, a mentally-challenged young man who helps his father, the peddler Otis Gardiner. Thought to be a simpleton, Meshak is treated by his father as if he were a servant rather than a son. Meshak must care for all of the animals, carrying their belongings and tend to all of the wares as the duo travel around the countryside, selling pots, pans, and a sundry of other items.

It is Meshak who also must keep an eye on the children left in the care of Mr. Gardiner, children who everyone believes are going to a London orphanage, the Coram Hospital. However, in reality, Mr. Gardiner sells the older male children to the military, the older female children to harem-seekers of North Africa, and tells Meshak to bury the infants, dead or alive, in the forest.

Thinking that...