zefrog's review
4.0
It's 1944. The world, Britain and Harry Plimsols ("like the gym shoes") are on the cusp of big changes. A few months away from turning seventeen, Harry, the scion of a middle-class family in London's suburbia, finds himself at odds with his relatives, though he is by far not the only "black-sheep" among them.
His solution is to escape to teacher college in Wales but before that happens he must make sense of himself and his relationships with his parents, his best friend (Harding), and his girlfriend (Noreen). And then, there is Joe, his lover.
Harry becomes a metaphor for a resurgent Britain, set as he is on a brave new path, full of hope and as yet unfulfilled promises after some dark hours.
Publish in 1989, the book is a forerunner of YA coming of age/coming out stories. It thankfully offers more depth than too many current instances of the genre are willing to present. The colourful gallery of characters is well drawn if sometimes a little unoriginal and the writing is lovely. The dialogues are sometimes pitched a little too stridently but the storyline, such as it is, is gripping. The low-key ending is quite moving although it leaves the book (and the reader) begging for a sequel (or a second part). But that can't be a bad thing.
His solution is to escape to teacher college in Wales but before that happens he must make sense of himself and his relationships with his parents, his best friend (Harding), and his girlfriend (Noreen). And then, there is Joe, his lover.
Harry becomes a metaphor for a resurgent Britain, set as he is on a brave new path, full of hope and as yet unfulfilled promises after some dark hours.
Publish in 1989, the book is a forerunner of YA coming of age/coming out stories. It thankfully offers more depth than too many current instances of the genre are willing to present. The colourful gallery of characters is well drawn if sometimes a little unoriginal and the writing is lovely. The dialogues are sometimes pitched a little too stridently but the storyline, such as it is, is gripping. The low-key ending is quite moving although it leaves the book (and the reader) begging for a sequel (or a second part). But that can't be a bad thing.
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