Talk of the Town [Paperback]

'an edgy coming-of-age story told in vivid demotic prose.'
--Metro

'This debut is a brilliant evocation of a particular time and place from a new author who deserves a wide readership.' --WBQ

'A crucial new voice.'

'A fierce cry of talent...Polley's language is mercurial, his humour quick and surprising. A moving and unmissable debut.'

'Few contemporary writers have captured the unease of in-between states with the same wired luminosity as Polley.'

'His language - which seems to crackle with electricity - conjures up a darkening sense of unease.'

'Reminiscent at time of Huckleberry Finn, the debut is a brilliant evocation.'

'Polley's beguiling prose style tests the limits of language, blending lyricism with brutality; juxtaposing tenderness with vicious criminality.'

'It is one of the many achievements of Talk of the Town that, as we read, we hope [Chris] will emerge, if not physically unscathed, then at least not so emotionally damaged that he sinks permanently into the grim rictus of cool.'

`Reminiscent at time of Huckleberry Finn, the debut is a brilliant evocation.'

`A solid, evocative, poetic and sharply perceptive debut novel.'

We don't always get to choose when we grow up . . .

1986, the last day of the summer holidays, and Christopher Hearsey is wondering why his best mate Arthur has suddenly disappeared, and whether lippy Gill Ross a few doors down might know anything about it. The great border city of Carlisle is buzzing with rumours following an act of terrible violence, and in order to begin his search Chris must face down his own dread, not only of the consequences of his own actions, but of local big man Booby Grove, and his psychotic sidekick Carl ‘the black’ Hole, who is keen to settle an old score.   Populated by a menacing and hilarious cast of characters, and moving from the dark aggrieved streets of the city to the agricultural hinterland of the Solway Firth, this is the story of a boy desperate to get out of town, out of a bad situation, even out of his own skin. Written with a moving demotic brilliance, reminiscent of Huckleberry Finn, Talk of the Town is an exhilarating and terrifying odyssey.

Jake Polley was born in Carlisle in 1975. He is the author of two poetry collections, both published by Picador. This is his first novel.