4 a.m.

(Paperback)

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Description

Set in the early 1990s on a British army base, 4 a.m. tells the story of Cal and Manny, army chefs posted to Germany. Bored and institutionalised, the pair soon succumb to the temptations of Hamburg's red-light district. But it is only a matter of time before hedonism and military discipline clash head on, with comic and poignant consequences.

Reviews

'Set on a British army base and in the anarchic club scene of '90s Hamburg, 4 a.m. tells the story of Cal and Manny, squaddies and diehard ravers, whose individual voices resonate in a sparkling debut novel of friendship, love and betrayal. An anthem for the E generation.' - Bookgroup.info 'Mesmerizing. And kind of frightening that a female writer can crawl so far into the male psyche.' - John Niven 'A genre defining tale of the early '90s rave scene.' - Brighton Magazine 'The depiction of a troubled masculinity in an urban setting is something we have long associated with male Scottish writers, and its encouraging to see a woman take this subject on board.' - Scottish Review of Books '4 a.m. is very original, with really credible characters and a great sense of time and place.' - Ian Rankin

Author Bio

Nina de la Mer is a Scottish novelist who lives and works in Brighton. After studying modern languages at the University of Sussex, de la Mer worked for ten years in book publishing before she began writing fiction herself. Shortlisted for the 2010 Writers Retreat Competition and warmly and widely reviewed, her debut novel, 4 a.m., was published in 2011 by Myriad. In 2012, de la Mer was awarded an Arts Council England Grant for the Arts to write her second novel. Layla was published in February 2014 and saw de la Mers work compared to that of James Kelman and Alan Bissett, who declared Nina a vital British novelist. Between her day job as an e-learning script writer and the practical demands of looking after her two young children, de la Mer is currently writing a third novel, The Decadents, an ensemble piece about two very different Brighton families. An enthusiastic and committed writer, de la Mer regularly appears at salons such as Grit Lit and Ace Stories, has contributed original short stories to spoken word events and has helped judge several writing competitions. Her work has been covered in the press in outlets as varied as the Guardian, Hello! Magazine, The Daily Record and The Herald, whose reviewer remarked of her debut: Its about time we had a female Irvine Welsh.