D.D. Johnston wrote to my colleague at the University of Salford to ask if he could come
and talk to our students. We had a Masters
creative writing workshop that seemed to fit well. I was running it that
evening. He had a Power Point presentation – but didn’t trust our technology so
he showed it as a series of A4 flash cards. It worked. There were also lots of
questions from the students. It made for an inspiring class.
I bought the book. None of the students did. It is published
by a small press so is a little expensive.
It took me over a year to get round to reading it but when I
did I could hardly put it down. It’s unusual
for me not to figure out what is happening long before the end. This time I did not know until the very last page
how everything was going to turn out. Yet the story progression and the
resolution remained convincing.
Part of the appeal must be because it is set in Greater Manchester.
As there is a tower block and a river involved, I saw in my mind’s eyes an area
very near to the university – in fact just a few yards away from where I held
the class. However, it isn’t there because there is a golf course, an old people’s
home and a St Michael’s Church involved as well.
This novel has an excellent narrative balance. The
characters are totally convincing. They are ordinary folk, too, not white upper
middle class. The story moves forward at a pace and we are kept guessing. We
are totally gunning for protagonist Claire Wilson.
I suppose Johnston approached us partly because the story is
set in Greater Manchester. The story is based on something that happened to
him. Oh, and he used to work at a Manchester
coach station – just like Dan, Claire’s husband.
Do give it a go.
No comments:
Post a Comment