Powder Monkey [Hardcover]

Karen Sainsbury's first novel begins with the discovery of an aunt who's died of a "giant hiccup"; this surreal, funny, unsettling device sets the tone for the whole of Powder Monkey, a fine and accomplished comedy. The scene is Somerset. The "heroes" are Keith, Tam and Cameron, teenage sons of a blunt, brusque, sheepfarming Dad and a Mam who "hates anything to do with nature" and who is so self-absorbed she absentmindedly cooks her blouse with the frozen peas. Bad enough, but then things take a turn for the worse: gypsies brawl outside the local and the police are injured by all the clothes-pegs used as missiles, then Mam gets a job retraining in the ex-Soviet Bloc. Struck by the sense of the world passing him by, a rather slow, boring, rain-sodden world at that, Keith carpes his diem and decides to use his skills as an amateur moon-photographer to get a place on a Bristol University astro-microbiology course. He fails. Then he decides to try again. He fails again. If this sounds boring, it shouldn't--Sainsbury's sly, slanted voice keeps things lively, funny, involving and poignant.

The only time Sainsbury's prose slightly fails her is when she shifts the winsome plot to the city. Luckily she doesn't do that very much: as the boys try to lever themselves out of the "green tomb" of the West Country, and the parents try to save themselves from the consequences of this, Powder Monkey turns into a jolly, mad, dippy, gratifyingly comedic romp through the post-industrial English countryside--with all its lager louts, light pollution, sheep massacres and loved-up clubbers driving dangerously home. Think Cold Comfort Farm, but on E. --Sean Thomas

Writing Magazine will be running a profile of Karen Sainsbury in their May issue and full page interviews with Karen were also published in the Somerset Guardian and Somerset Standard on 30th May. We have fixed up an event on Thursday 27th June with Jeffrey Moore and John Biguenet, at the Mini Bar, Highbury Corner and Karen Sainsbury will also be taking part in the Frome Festival and signing copies of POWDER MONKEY at the Hunting Raven bookshop, Frome, on 13th July.Interviews set up so far include a half hour live interview on the John Turner Show (BBC Radio Bristol, 5th June). Karen had a very enjoyable launch party down in Somerset on 30th May and we sold a number of books. 'The juxtaposition of pathos, comedy adn sheep s**t produces some genuinely funny lines...This is a honest depiction of the pent-up adrenalin feel of being 18 and without sufficient outlet or direction for your energy.'The Times We've also had a review in the Independent on Sunday. There have also been some fantastic advance quotes: 'An uproariously tragic, brilliantly inventive book that shows just how weird ordinary life can be.' Richard Francis 'Powder Monkey isterrific - brilliantly observed, darkly funny but, above all, humane and compassionate in ways that make a world of unexpected sense. It is startling, fresh and quite remarkable.' Blanaid McKinney 'Powder Monkey is a smart and sinc

Set in deepest Somerset, this is the story of Keith, our hero, his brothers Tam and Cameron, his Da who is a sheep farmer, his Ma who wants to flee to Albania, and Arthur, the dysfunctional postman. It's also the story of a dirty-minded milkman, and of Maria who is going out with Tam but who should be going out with Keith, and of Mrs Brownlow who has taken to mopping up the vomit outside The Griffin pub ever since Albert passed away. Keith knows he has to escape, that he can't keep sweeping up dead budgies from his neighbour's aviary (his only form of income). Scanning the night sky and drinking in The Griffin seem only to exacerbate the problem. But with no qualifications, no girlfriend and only his rusty old telescope and the nightly reports of the Mission To Mars probe on BBC2 to take him away from it all, Keith's options look limited.

Karen Sainsbury is 30 and a graduate of the Bath Spa Creative Writing Course. This is her first novel.