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Penknife

Format:Paperback

Publisher:SilverWood Books Ltd

Published:1st Nov '22

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Penknife cover

It is May 1984 and the time of the miners' strike. Jarrod Brook, a rebel without a cause, returns to Brightlingsea, Essex, after being expelled from a state boarding school, to find that his mum has given his bedroom to a striking miner. Along with his best mate, Colin, over a long, eventful summer Jarrod is drawn into petty criminality while also trying to impress Verity, an outspoken young feminist. Then the repercussions of a drunken night out conspire to test the limits of friendship and to show how a well-meaning and quite innocent young man can end up behind bars.

Seen through the perspective of a young man full of both good intentions and weaknesses, Penknife is a highly readable book, gritty, poignant, funny, at times tragic, and set against the political and economic dogma we now call “Thatcherism,” but whose continuity is easily recognised in today’s Westminster debacles. It may be Westover’s first novel, but I predict it won’t be his last. A good read. By Sylvia Hikins (Morning Star Literature Review)

ISBN: 9781800422223

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

300 pages