STEVEN ANDREW is moved beyond words by a historical account of mining in Britain made from the words of the miners themselves
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Your first time in the north
PAUL FARMER recommends the perplexing realism of a working-class writer whose books are about far more than they appear to be
Creating a mass-ownership New Standard Sailing Dinghy, or not?
CAILEAN MCBRIDE welcomes a refreshing and timely study of the way officialdom creates structures that exclude LGBT+ rights and humanity
The bard mourns the loss of comrades and troubadours, and looks for consolation with Black Country Jess
CHRIS MOSS relishes the painting and the life story of a self-taught working-class artist from Warrington
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a star-studded adaptation of Ibsen’s play that is devoid of believable humanity
GORDON PARSONS is fascinated by a unique dream journal collected by a Jewish journalist in Nazi Berlin
Borrowed Time: Lennon’s Last Decade, Parthenope, Where Dragons Live and Thunderbolts* reviewed by MICHAL BONCZA and MARIA DUARTE
The Encouragement of Others
Magnus Mills, Quoqs, £9.99
MAGNUS MILLS is on a roll. The Encouragement of Others is one of his finest books.
Mills is a working man, and he writes about workers. His first novel, The Restraint of Beasts, was about labourers who erect fences; The Scheme for Full Employment was about delivery vans; and The Maintenance of Headway was about bus drivers. These are all jobs Mills has done himself and the worlds he makes of them are enclosed and entire. But his books are about far more than they appear to be.
Or perhaps they aren’t.
More from this author
While the group known as the Colourists certainly reinvigorated Scottish painting, a new show is a welcome chance to reassess them, writes ANGUS REID
ANGUS REID recommends an exquisite drama about the disturbing impact of the one child policy in contemporary China
The phrase “cruel to be kind” comes from Hamlet, but Shakespeare’s Prince didn’t go in for kidnap, explosive punches, and cigarette deprivation. Tam is different.
ANGUS REID deconstructs a popular contemporary novel aimed at a ‘queer’ young adult readership
