Hollow in the Land

Full of insight, empathy and wry laughter * M. John Harrison, Guardian *
A joy to read . . . Like McGregor, Clarke is attuned to landscape in a way that is both mineral and metaphysical -- Catherine Taylor * TLS *
A beautifully melancholy and worldly book. Clarke's characters may lead quiet, thwarted lives but his prose is generous and electrifying, unjudgmental and assured. A brilliant new talent -- Colin Barrett, author * Young Skins *
A magic portrayal of modern life in the peripheries -- Amy Liptrot, author * The Outrun *
There is an American influence on James Clarke's writing - Raymond Carver, Richard Ford, Denis Johnson - but the accent is English, matter-of-fact, which makes the vivid observations and moments of grace all the more vivid ... a story of England today. -- Anthony Cartwright, author * Iron Towns *
Like Benjamin Myers and Jon McGregor, James Clarke is bringing a new consciousness to Northern England, an awareness of its uniqueness, natural beauty and threat are the basis of his writing ... He brings something of the sensibility of James Kelman to his writing, but also (perhaps) some of the American tradition of short stories set in one place, whether William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County or Chris Offutt's Kentucky Straight collection. James Clarke also shares with them one of the great qualities of the short story writer, the ability to craft a final sentence that keeps the story running off the page in the reader's mind. * Bookmunch *