Description
Book SynopsisWinner of the James Tait Black Fiction Prize
For 16-year-old Simon Crimmons there is not a lot to do. Going nowhere, fed up with school, he leaves to work as a driver on the trains. That summer he is introduced to a world of grown-up glamour, strikes and girlfriends. When Simon falls for the ethereal, aristocratic Varie, he finds freedom and adventure but will it be at a price? Too posh' for the railways, too working class' for Varie, Simon must navigate what it means to be a man as his world is turned upside down.
Trade ReviewA delight: a boisterous, kindly, deep, sweet romp of a thing * Scotsman *
Absolutely beautiful... As far as I'm concerned he's emerging as the William Faulkner of British fiction: somebody who's created a body of work that has not only animated a language but a period and a place... He has this incredible talent -- Andrew O'Hagan
This is the best Scottish fiction since Lanark * Scottish Review of Books *
Morally sensitive, exquisitely written and emotionally mature * Guardian *
If you still haven’t read it from last year, Alan Warner’s
The Deadman’s Pedal was out in paperback in this. Read it -- Janice Galloway * Scotsman *
