Novels set in Sheffield

[ricoblade 10]

There's a novel set in Sheffield which was reviewed this weekend in the Guardian:

 

Sounds like they liked it.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/19/the-year-of-the-runaways-sunjeev-sahota-review-political-novel

 

Thanks for this - I've ordered the first one from the library and will see how it goes.

[stevekay1 10]

Posted a review of Exit, Orange and Red by Martyn Bedford at: http://stevek1889.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/sheffield-novels.html. It's set in Meadowhall and Sheffield and includes a story-line from the Sheffield Stirrings/Outrages, or whatever you want to call it. That's 28 novels and counting. Abe's Legacy by Marjorie Dunn next: set in the 1864 Sheffield Flood - don't know much about it.

[boldforester 10]

Thanks Steve. As a novel, it was, as I recall, fairly mundane. There was an end-game set in one of the (now disappeared)cooling towers, which struck me as implausible. Still, I have no ISBN number after my name, so wtf do I know?

[Olive 10]

Thanks for this - I've ordered the first one from the library and will see how it goes.

 

Come on Ricoblade, hurry up and get it read, I'm on the waiting list too!

[stevekay1 10]

Thanks Steve. As a novel, it was, as I recall, fairly mundane. There was an end-game set in one of the (now disappeared)cooling towers, which struck me as implausible. Still, I have no ISBN number after my name, so wtf do I know?

 

I agree, Boldforester, Exit Orange and Red was a bit of a let down. Sounds to me like you do know summat.

[ricoblade 10]

Come on Ricoblade, hurry up and get it read, I'm on the waiting list too!

 

Have read the first one, am on the waiting list for the new one.

[Olive 10]

Have read the first one, am on the waiting list for the new one.

 

I'm ninth - I might have a bit of a wait..... So, come on 1-8, get a move on!

[beady 10]

Folks might like a couple of books I've enjoyed set in and around Sheffield?

Fred Kitchen's Brother to the Ox is a biography of a farm labourer early in the 20th century. He talks about his life around Edwinstowe, Maltby and in his later years as a milkman cum smallholder in Sheffield. Really enjoyable reading.

Also The Belle Fields by Lora Adams is a relatively recent book which on looking at the author's notes and dialect used, is set in a village near Sheffield and covers through many twists and turns, the life of a young woman entering into service as a kitchen maid in a local Big House. A very good 'page-turner' - uplifting in parts and sad in others with a really unexpected conclusion. I gather a sequel is on its way - can't wait to see how the main characters fair - one I hope she leads a happier life, one I would hang, draw and quarter and one I feel so sorry for!

Good reading

[gudguitar 10]

Have you tried books by Marjorie Dunn?

For the Love Of Children,Abe's Legacy,From Beyond the Crooked Spire & The Maggie Kelly,the latter of which I read recently and found it to be quite a charming read.

[soft ayperth 11]

The fun and games we used to get up to at High Storrs Grammar School for Boys when Elvis was King and George Mack ruled the roost. Thanks to Sheffield Star for publishing the second of three excerpts from my memoir. No, it's not a novel. But, it is set in Sheffield.

 

http://www.thestar.co.uk/joys-and-heartaches-of-life-in-post-war-sheffield-1-7414197

[stevekay1 10]

My review of Year of the Runaways - the 2015 Booker short-listed novel set in Sheffield. Not sure quite what all the fuss is about: http://stevek1889.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/sheffield-novels.html

Some bits are good, others downright awful.

[taxman 12]

My review of Year of the Runaways - the 2015 Booker short-listed novel set in Sheffield. Not sure quite what all the fuss is about: http://stevek1889.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/sheffield-novels.html

Some bits are good, others downright awful.

 

Good call.

 

I read his first novel and was just annoyed that he chose to set his book in a real place, but obviously hadn't bothered to travel on the tram, look at a map or walk down Division Street before including them in his book.

 

Ian Rankin writes about Edinburgh and we go every year. Every single alleyway, corner, pub or churchyard is pitch perfect and accurately described. It's as though we are in his novels. Try to do that with Sahota and you might end up in Waterthorpe.

 

If you are going to set a book in a real place get it right, otherwise just make up some place like Eastvale