Prospect Hill

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Fans of Jonathan Coe will love this extraordinary panoramic novel, which turns upon the whirligig of life that is Costford, a North Western town, in 1970. 'Richard Francis and Zadie Smith have much in common.' Alfred Hickling, Guardian 'An inspired attempt at reinventing that time-limned genre, the English provincial novel.' D.J.Taylor, Independent 'It is 1970 and Costford, a body-double for the place we would call Stockport, is a dreary smear of crazy-paving, rising damp and liver 'n' onions for tea. May, a middle-aged local magistrate with thick ankles and a dead husband, lives with her senile Mam. Trevor, her nemesis, could be May's son. He's a local councillor and the two initially clash over a development of tower blocks, but politics are soon forgotten in this beautifully wrought tragic-comedy as Trevor's marriage hits the rocks and he finds himself drawn to the ageing matriarch. Francis apes the tone of the times with consummate skill in a brilliant slab of realism that still finds a place for verbs like "firkling".' Arena

Reviews

'Readers will like this. What makes Francis's books so satisfying is his bracing mixture of cool observation of foibles with real tenderness for his characters.' Maggie Gee, Sunday Times 'An extremely readable and very funny book. This is a world where everything is known, even the unexpected...it is reliable, warm, and inescapable.' Sean O'Brien, TLS 'Francis has a fine knack of giving voice to the voiceless...Stockport may not be the centre of the universe, but for Francis it is fertile soil and he seems happily rooted. Prospect Hill is further shining evidece that he has nowhere to stay but put.' Guardian 'The prose combines close observations, Northern slang and fizzing but unforced one-liners to winningly breezy effect... A big, good-hearted piece of literary entertainment.' James Walton, Sunday Telegraph 'Richard Francis's achievement is to pluck ordinary lives out of their routine by concentrating on their sheer oddity. Nothing could be more conventional than the paths his characters tread, at the same time, nothing could be more bizarre. Prospect Hill is a bracing experience.' D.J.Taylor, Independent 'A deliciously dark comic novel that never patronizes its provincial roots and the ending is simply ingenious.' Will Appleby, Attitude 'Full marks to Richard Francis for this witty and often acerbic study of privincial urban society on the threshold of entering the contemporary world.' Yorkshire Evening Post 'A bittersweet comedy of British life far flung from the heady metropolis.' Wayne Clews, City Life 'An often hilarious, sharply observed portrait of humanity.' Becky Ohlsen, Bookmunch

Author Bio

Richard Francis is a professor at Bath University. He is a playwright, reviewer, biographer, and broadcaster as well as novelist. Fourth Estate also publish 'Ann the Word', the biography of Ann Lee, founder of the Shakers