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Ironopolis
Ironopolis is a warren of streets, memories and people with secrets... Glen James Brown orchestrates a remarkable novel across these streets as Ironopolis tells its own story across three generations. Jean unveils a secret on her deathbed... Alan unravels the truth of his father, a man who has haunted the Burn Council Estate for a lifetime... Corina is just trying to get through one last day at the hairdressers before she closes it for good. And then there is the ageless Peg Powler, myth and reality, stalking them all...
480 pages, Paperback
First published June 3, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews
March 4, 2022
It is a complete coincidence that the last book I read focused on a condemned high rise tower in Glasgow, and this debut is another extraordinary portrayal of a community through particular individuals, where the Teeside Burn council estate is to be demolished as part of a regeneration project, clearing out the working class locals. Ironopolis is a reference to Middlesbrough's past as the UK's centre for iron and steel, all long gone, with its inevitable repercussions of poverty and high unemployment, the unavoidable reality of few prospects and little in the way of a future. There is history, family, heartbreak, brutality, violence, fear and a humanity in this unflinchingly authentic, rich and detailed depiction of people, interwoven short stories that intersect and interconnect through time and this place. The storytelling includes the use of a range of formats, such as letters and interviews.
The estate is riddled with problems associated with the lack of jobs, the addictions, drink, drugs, gambling and, of course, crime. The derelict waterworks are a danger for local children, with the folklore and urban legends of Peg Powler, a water sprite associated with the River Tees and Peg Powler is being used to try and keep the kids away. There are the victims of the waterworks, the friendship between Jean and Una, the climate of fear and terror generated by hard man, Vincent Barr, his son, Alan's investigation into Douglas Ward and his links to his father, and acid house raves. The structure of using short stories works incredibly well, providing a much needed social and political commentary, illustrating how history repeats itself again and again, showing the nature of memories and emergence of truth, and where there are unexpected twists and turns in the narrative.
This is an outstanding and ambitious novel, compulsive and captivating, a gritty social realism read, thought provoking, and moving, that will be hard to forget once you have finished. The larger than life characterisations are stellar, honing in as they do on the complications and ambiguities to be found in real people. A superb novel that paints a hard hitting and compassionate picture of the North East that I recommend highly. Many thanks to the publisher.
The estate is riddled with problems associated with the lack of jobs, the addictions, drink, drugs, gambling and, of course, crime. The derelict waterworks are a danger for local children, with the folklore and urban legends of Peg Powler, a water sprite associated with the River Tees and Peg Powler is being used to try and keep the kids away. There are the victims of the waterworks, the friendship between Jean and Una, the climate of fear and terror generated by hard man, Vincent Barr, his son, Alan's investigation into Douglas Ward and his links to his father, and acid house raves. The structure of using short stories works incredibly well, providing a much needed social and political commentary, illustrating how history repeats itself again and again, showing the nature of memories and emergence of truth, and where there are unexpected twists and turns in the narrative.
This is an outstanding and ambitious novel, compulsive and captivating, a gritty social realism read, thought provoking, and moving, that will be hard to forget once you have finished. The larger than life characterisations are stellar, honing in as they do on the complications and ambiguities to be found in real people. A superb novel that paints a hard hitting and compassionate picture of the North East that I recommend highly. Many thanks to the publisher.
May 25, 2024
Shortlisted for the inaugral Orwell Prize for Political Fiction for books that fulfil George Orwell's ambition "to make political writing into an art" and the Portico Prize for books that best evoke the spirit of the North of England.
And Ironopolis deserves the recognition. It is certainly political - a novel of an (industrial North-eastern) working class community, gradually destroyed by both the decline of the steelworks and housing redevelopment - but never polemical. But mixed in with the gritty reality of day-to-day life are real-life but still haunting events such as the Great Darkness of July 2, 1968 and the more magic-realist folklore of Peg Powler, who in this novel, at least to some of the characters, is a very real presence. From the 1886 book Legends & Superstitions Of The County Of Durham:
Several other bloggers / reviewers have done the novel proud, so I will link to their reviews rather than repeat their sentiments:
Jackie Law's blog:
https://neverimitate.wordpress.com/20...
behindthecritic blog:
https://behindthecritic.wordpress.com...
and from those I follow on Goodreads:
Misterhobgoblin:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and Patricia Highsmith's Snail:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Recommended
And Ironopolis deserves the recognition. It is certainly political - a novel of an (industrial North-eastern) working class community, gradually destroyed by both the decline of the steelworks and housing redevelopment - but never polemical. But mixed in with the gritty reality of day-to-day life are real-life but still haunting events such as the Great Darkness of July 2, 1968 and the more magic-realist folklore of Peg Powler, who in this novel, at least to some of the characters, is a very real presence. From the 1886 book Legends & Superstitions Of The County Of Durham:
The river Tees has its sprite, called Peg Powler, whose delight it is to lure too venturesome bathers into her subaqueous haunts, and then drag them to the bottom and drown them. Children are still warned from playing on the banks of the river, especially on Sundays, by threats that Peg Powler will catch hold of them and carry them off. Peg has long green tresses, hanging down over her shoulders, but what her costume is we are not told.And the story is told in a creative and tightly controlled style, unfolding in six distinct narratives, from the perspective of five different characters, set over half a century of history, using letters, recorded conversations and investigative footnotes (it reminded me of times of the excellent The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas) which fit together beautifully to produce the overall picture.
Several other bloggers / reviewers have done the novel proud, so I will link to their reviews rather than repeat their sentiments:
Jackie Law's blog:
https://neverimitate.wordpress.com/20...
behindthecritic blog:
https://behindthecritic.wordpress.com...
and from those I follow on Goodreads:
Misterhobgoblin:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and Patricia Highsmith's Snail:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Recommended
December 23, 2019
I've discussed before how much I enjoy it when novels take the form of interlinked short stories, but the structure of Glen James Brown's debut novel “Ironopolis” is wholly unique in how it not only tells the interweaving stories of several individuals centred around a council estate but does so using different formats from letters to interviews to personal accounts. I've been meaning to read this book since it was first published last year and most recently it's been shortlisted for The Portico Prize (a literary award which celebrates Northern lives and landscape across fiction and nonfiction.) Brown's novel is located in Middlesborough, a city that has gone through large transformations since the closure of its coal and steel industries. These changes are particularly felt by the residents of this estate which undergoes a protracted process of rejuvenation by the local housing association resulting in the displacement of many long-term inhabitants.
Read my full review of Ironopolis by Glen James Brown on LonesomeReader
Read my full review of Ironopolis by Glen James Brown on LonesomeReader
November 1, 2020
Why did it take me so long to get round to reading Ironopolis? It's so exactly my sort of thing, as I was recently saying in my review of Gary Budden's London Incognita: a set of six interwoven stories, brilliant individually but, together, somehow even greater than the sum of their parts. It's a triumphantly polyphonic portrait of working-class life, spinning a fantastic story while feeling absolutely authentic. There are also thrilling traces of magical realism in the persistent presence of Peg Powler, a figure drawn from English folklore.
The title is taken from an old nickname for Middlesbrough, and all the stories are set on a Teesside council estate, the Burn Estate. It's recounted so vividly by each and every narrator – the criss-crossing streets (all individually named), the tower blocks, the derelict waterworks. Around the third chapter, I decided I wanted to look it up on Google Street View, to give me a better picture of what the setting looked like. And that's how I found out the whole thing is invented. The phrase 'my mind was blown' is often used in situations where one's mind is not truly blown, but honestly, my mind. was. blown. The estate and its surroundings are described with such attention to detail, yet so naturally, that it didn't even occur to me to wonder whether or not they were real.
The striking sense of place is just one of many remarkable things about Ironopolis. Its characters are even better. First there's Jean Barr, whose letters are supposed to tell the story of her friendship with artist Una Cruickshank, but really tell us more about Jean herself. Then Jim Clarke, whose heartbreaking narrative is a romance and a tragedy about music, drugs and finding (and then destroying) yourself. Father and son Frank and Scott Hulme, whose horrifying encounter with gangster Vincent Barr gives important clues as to how the dots between stories should be joined. Corina Clarke, Jim's sister: another tragic love story, this time about gambling and chasing dreams and losing everything else.
Perhaps best of all is Alan Barr, son of Jean and Vincent. By the time we reach Alan's chapter, we've had numerous glimpses of him, enough to form an impression – and it's delightful to have that impression completely overturned by the marvel that is his narrative voice. He is a meticulous, careful chronicler, his 'document' supplemented by exhaustive footnotes. His story – an investigation into his own family's history, by way of conversations with colourful characters from the estate – is a particular joy to read, even as it, too, breaks your heart.
There's a reason this book has such an unusually high average rating on Goodreads, and a reason practically everyone who's read it appears to love it. It really is one of those books: an instant classic; a novel that feels like an old favourite when you've only read it once; fiction that seems realer than real life. It's brilliantly written, but I think what really makes it work is that it has so much heart. It's the rare book I would recommend to everyone.
TinyLetter | Linktree
The title is taken from an old nickname for Middlesbrough, and all the stories are set on a Teesside council estate, the Burn Estate. It's recounted so vividly by each and every narrator – the criss-crossing streets (all individually named), the tower blocks, the derelict waterworks. Around the third chapter, I decided I wanted to look it up on Google Street View, to give me a better picture of what the setting looked like. And that's how I found out the whole thing is invented. The phrase 'my mind was blown' is often used in situations where one's mind is not truly blown, but honestly, my mind. was. blown. The estate and its surroundings are described with such attention to detail, yet so naturally, that it didn't even occur to me to wonder whether or not they were real.
The striking sense of place is just one of many remarkable things about Ironopolis. Its characters are even better. First there's Jean Barr, whose letters are supposed to tell the story of her friendship with artist Una Cruickshank, but really tell us more about Jean herself. Then Jim Clarke, whose heartbreaking narrative is a romance and a tragedy about music, drugs and finding (and then destroying) yourself. Father and son Frank and Scott Hulme, whose horrifying encounter with gangster Vincent Barr gives important clues as to how the dots between stories should be joined. Corina Clarke, Jim's sister: another tragic love story, this time about gambling and chasing dreams and losing everything else.
Perhaps best of all is Alan Barr, son of Jean and Vincent. By the time we reach Alan's chapter, we've had numerous glimpses of him, enough to form an impression – and it's delightful to have that impression completely overturned by the marvel that is his narrative voice. He is a meticulous, careful chronicler, his 'document' supplemented by exhaustive footnotes. His story – an investigation into his own family's history, by way of conversations with colourful characters from the estate – is a particular joy to read, even as it, too, breaks your heart.
There's a reason this book has such an unusually high average rating on Goodreads, and a reason practically everyone who's read it appears to love it. It really is one of those books: an instant classic; a novel that feels like an old favourite when you've only read it once; fiction that seems realer than real life. It's brilliantly written, but I think what really makes it work is that it has so much heart. It's the rare book I would recommend to everyone.
TinyLetter | Linktree
December 4, 2024
“What ‘trade’ is there? Since I was a lass, the forges have been privatised, consolidated, chopped up, sold off. Why make steel here if it’s cheaper to ship from China? Everybody is being made redundant – tens of thousands of people. Whole communities. Ironopolis is falling.”
A novel of place, in this case Teesside. There is an old saying which goes “It’s grim up North” and this is a rather bleak novel. It is set on a run down council estate (the fictional Burns estate in Middlesborough), with the emphasis on run down. The local industry was iron and steel and petrochemicals. These industries are in severe decline and many thousands have been made redundant. This is set over a couple of generations and it charts the decline of these industries alongside the decline of the council estate and its gradual demolition.
The novel is a series of linked stories with the same characters recurring in each one, sometimes younger, sometimes older. There are different formats. One is epistolary, there is a prison diary, an academic essay and some straightforward storytelling. Alan Barr pulls the whole thing together. He is a shy and awkward man (although we see his childhood as well) who has never quite come to terms with his father Vincent: a bully who has haunted the estate for decades.
There is an added folklore element as well. Peg Powler is the spirit of the river Tees. Most rivers in the UK (and I suspect the rest of the world) have them. She is a water witch who lures children (and sometimes adults) into the water and to a wet and cold demise. She is a strand running through all of the stories.
This is an urban wasteland with a great cast of characters. There is brutality and cruelty in this sort of estate (there is at least one in most towns and cities in the UK). The gritty realism part is obvious, but there is also a bleak humour as well. The scenes where some birds of prey are taken into an older persons home for the residents to handle has a touch of comic genius to it.
The regeneration of the estate, which is going on throughout much of the novel, is the type that breaks up communities and gradually destroys them, exposing the loyalties and antagonisms that make up most communities.
This is a really good read and an excellent novel, it is I suppose a state of the nation novel.
A novel of place, in this case Teesside. There is an old saying which goes “It’s grim up North” and this is a rather bleak novel. It is set on a run down council estate (the fictional Burns estate in Middlesborough), with the emphasis on run down. The local industry was iron and steel and petrochemicals. These industries are in severe decline and many thousands have been made redundant. This is set over a couple of generations and it charts the decline of these industries alongside the decline of the council estate and its gradual demolition.
The novel is a series of linked stories with the same characters recurring in each one, sometimes younger, sometimes older. There are different formats. One is epistolary, there is a prison diary, an academic essay and some straightforward storytelling. Alan Barr pulls the whole thing together. He is a shy and awkward man (although we see his childhood as well) who has never quite come to terms with his father Vincent: a bully who has haunted the estate for decades.
There is an added folklore element as well. Peg Powler is the spirit of the river Tees. Most rivers in the UK (and I suspect the rest of the world) have them. She is a water witch who lures children (and sometimes adults) into the water and to a wet and cold demise. She is a strand running through all of the stories.
This is an urban wasteland with a great cast of characters. There is brutality and cruelty in this sort of estate (there is at least one in most towns and cities in the UK). The gritty realism part is obvious, but there is also a bleak humour as well. The scenes where some birds of prey are taken into an older persons home for the residents to handle has a touch of comic genius to it.
The regeneration of the estate, which is going on throughout much of the novel, is the type that breaks up communities and gradually destroys them, exposing the loyalties and antagonisms that make up most communities.
This is a really good read and an excellent novel, it is I suppose a state of the nation novel.
August 6, 2019
It's even more grim up north now!
Having been brought up on a council estate (before it became such a stigma) in a northern steel town, this novel of working class life in another such town has powerful resonances for me.
Six testimonies from three generations, covering five decades of industrial decline in a fictionalised steel town, are intermeshed in this realistic portrayal of how the old solidarity of working class communities is undermined by so-called 'regeneration' and brutalist social housing in sink estates.
The narrative style is that of social realism, with distinct authentic voices and gallows humour -viz the following scene at the local hairdressers:-
Mrs Terry leans forward in her chair. 'Rachel, shall I tell you about my last holiday?'
Rachel has obviously forgotten about the old woman in the corner. 'Err... of course. Where did you...?'
... 'Blackpool. Have you ever journeyed?'
'I can't say I have. Is it nice?'
'Back in the 70s the sea was like unsieved gravy. I went with Colin.'
'Colin's your husband?'
'Was. He's dead now. Heart attack...
Our hotel was called the Sea View, but all you could see out our window was the bins.'
Rachel's smile is strained. 'Still, you never spend much time in the room, do you?'
'True,' Mrs Terry says. 'In his case , he was mostly in the bar.'
'Well that can ... be fun too,' Rachel replies.
Mrs Terry coughs into her hanky. 'What's your husband's name?'
'Eric.'
'Say that after you wake up to Eric relieving himself in the bedside drawer.'
The success of this writer's stunning debut is another sign of a recent resurgence for the working class novel.
Highly recommended.
Having been brought up on a council estate (before it became such a stigma) in a northern steel town, this novel of working class life in another such town has powerful resonances for me.
Six testimonies from three generations, covering five decades of industrial decline in a fictionalised steel town, are intermeshed in this realistic portrayal of how the old solidarity of working class communities is undermined by so-called 'regeneration' and brutalist social housing in sink estates.
The narrative style is that of social realism, with distinct authentic voices and gallows humour -viz the following scene at the local hairdressers:-
Mrs Terry leans forward in her chair. 'Rachel, shall I tell you about my last holiday?'
Rachel has obviously forgotten about the old woman in the corner. 'Err... of course. Where did you...?'
... 'Blackpool. Have you ever journeyed?'
'I can't say I have. Is it nice?'
'Back in the 70s the sea was like unsieved gravy. I went with Colin.'
'Colin's your husband?'
'Was. He's dead now. Heart attack...
Our hotel was called the Sea View, but all you could see out our window was the bins.'
Rachel's smile is strained. 'Still, you never spend much time in the room, do you?'
'True,' Mrs Terry says. 'In his case , he was mostly in the bar.'
'Well that can ... be fun too,' Rachel replies.
Mrs Terry coughs into her hanky. 'What's your husband's name?'
'Eric.'
'Say that after you wake up to Eric relieving himself in the bedside drawer.'
The success of this writer's stunning debut is another sign of a recent resurgence for the working class novel.
Highly recommended.
May 29, 2022
“There is no such thing as family, I said. It’s everybody for themselves. You think someone loves you, but they’ll chuck you like that.”
✮✮✮
The Burn Council Estate is due to be torn down, and new homes built. However, the estate is home to stories and secrets going back years, from the thug Vincent who terrorises the estate, to Peg Powler the legend.
This was a really interesting read and the stories were all really intriguing, but the writing really frustrated me. Stay with me while I explain. Each short story was told from an individual viewpoint, and it was almost a running train of thoughts and memories, that works. The part that frustrates me is that within flashbacks and memories, no one’s speech is in speech marks… I never thought I’d be so frustrated by something so small! If it wasn’t for that, I’d probably have rated it four stars.
The characters were great, and I loved how the stories all interlinked, answering questions left from the previous short stories as each one progressed. Some days I could inhale a whole short story, while others it would take me days or weeks to get through! Definitely a mixed bag!
✮✮✮
The Burn Council Estate is due to be torn down, and new homes built. However, the estate is home to stories and secrets going back years, from the thug Vincent who terrorises the estate, to Peg Powler the legend.
This was a really interesting read and the stories were all really intriguing, but the writing really frustrated me. Stay with me while I explain. Each short story was told from an individual viewpoint, and it was almost a running train of thoughts and memories, that works. The part that frustrates me is that within flashbacks and memories, no one’s speech is in speech marks… I never thought I’d be so frustrated by something so small! If it wasn’t for that, I’d probably have rated it four stars.
The characters were great, and I loved how the stories all interlinked, answering questions left from the previous short stories as each one progressed. Some days I could inhale a whole short story, while others it would take me days or weeks to get through! Definitely a mixed bag!
July 15, 2019
Barnet council ‘engaged in social cleansing’ at West Hendon estate
The London borough of Barnet’s use of compulsory purchase powers to buy flats as part of the £520m rebuilding of the West Hendon estate . It would allow just three of the 36 owners affected in the first phase of the development to stay in an area where many had spent most of their lives
A work colleague of mine (for over twenty five years) has spoken about his upbringing, and life, on the West Hendon Estate, sold off and ‘developed’ as part of the gentrification of the Hendon/ Colindale area of north west London. This is an estate that has been the subject of BBC documentary “The Estate We’re In”(2016),
Ironopolis is based in the North East of England, in Middlesbrough, but the account of life on the Burn estate rings very familiar to me.
This is an excellent, earthy, account of a local community producing its own ‘characters’. It doesn’t rose- tint the fact that some of those characters are unsavoury and exploitative.
This is fiction, though and it’s much more than social commentary.
In a good way I detected influences of a number of recent favourite books of mine.
Irvine Welsh with its drug dependency and devastation; Jon McGregor’s Reservoir 13 ; the spectre of a missing child, always there in the background, while life goes on; Daisy Johnson’s Everything Under the Borak and Peg Powler play on our fears, and our impressionistic childhoods.
The book is divided into six sections, each of which centres on a different resident of the Burn Estate. There is a very satisfying finale in which the parts of the story (there is already a lot of cross over between the sections) come together.
I particularly liked:
characterisation of the long standing residents
• Douglas Ward and Ian Pavel. They are a Del Boy/Rodney combination, combining incompetence with an inability to tell the truth.
o Don’t spill the contents of an ashes urn!
o the riches of charity shops!
o Trainers. Try Adidas Atlantis, the rarest of the rare...Ultramarine leather, white stripes, gold sole
*. Kate Bush. The artist as serious business ” Try ‘Never for Ever’, that’s her best one. Then ‘Hounds of Love’ then ‘Lionheart, though most wouldn't agree there”(329)
• Henry Szarka and the calming effects of birds of prey in the residential home(!!)
the gangsters
Vincent Barr A perfect portrayal of a ‘big’ man in a local environment. He’s as mean in his seventies as he always was.
A man who loves his dogs ... which leads (ironically) to the most amusing parts of the book
• Frank and his father Scott Hulme help Vincent with a bit of re-hanging of their taxidermist artwork (Ludwig)!!!!!!
• Rachmaninoff Even its name was an aberration; completely at odds as the beast was to the sensual, moonlit melodies of its namesake.(329)
Rachmaninoff’s thing was destroying cardboard. Dad would pick through the rubbish while the dog watched patiently; nothing but an occasional sweep of the tail to hint at any internal psychosis”(334)
* Derek Beecham. A debt collector who capitalises on human weakness and makes you pay for mistakes ever afterwards.
Reflective lives.
• Jim Clarke (of Hessle Rise) recalls his halcyon days; the Acid House rave scene; those music orientated freeze frames when everything seemed possible (The Cure, The Cocteau, Twins, The Smiths). A time of emergent friendships (with JJ and Adam) and the recollection of his moment that was his time, now turned sour. Don’t we all look back on our lives and recognise retrospectively that instant that turned out to be our finest hour?
• Corina Clarke. The most heart-breaking of the characters. A living witness to the destructive effects of addiction. Estrangment from her daughter, betrayal of her partner; but fundamentally, a pillar of the community, and one whose business- hairdressing to all comers, (The Crescent) is the conduit for news to be shared, and for a sense of looking out for others.
> Gary’s newsagents. poor sod.
> Mrs Terry. Under cover of a book, Behind Drawn Shades observer of all that she surveys
> Yvette, the mediating cafe owner
Another (excellent) book (which I read immediately after Ironopolis) is The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas. The two books had a number of stylistic similarities
* Extensive use of footnotes
* The mixture of fact based information (sometimes quite trivial) and pure invention.
For complementary subject matter, the nature of social change, and the changing fabric of society Sam Byers' Perfidious Albion also works well as an accompaniment to Ironopolis.
Highly recommended.
The London borough of Barnet’s use of compulsory purchase powers to buy flats as part of the £520m rebuilding of the West Hendon estate . It would allow just three of the 36 owners affected in the first phase of the development to stay in an area where many had spent most of their lives
A work colleague of mine (for over twenty five years) has spoken about his upbringing, and life, on the West Hendon Estate, sold off and ‘developed’ as part of the gentrification of the Hendon/ Colindale area of north west London. This is an estate that has been the subject of BBC documentary “The Estate We’re In”(2016),
Ironopolis is based in the North East of England, in Middlesbrough, but the account of life on the Burn estate rings very familiar to me.
This is an excellent, earthy, account of a local community producing its own ‘characters’. It doesn’t rose- tint the fact that some of those characters are unsavoury and exploitative.
This is fiction, though and it’s much more than social commentary.
In a good way I detected influences of a number of recent favourite books of mine.
Irvine Welsh with its drug dependency and devastation; Jon McGregor’s Reservoir 13 ; the spectre of a missing child, always there in the background, while life goes on; Daisy Johnson’s Everything Under the Borak and Peg Powler play on our fears, and our impressionistic childhoods.
The book is divided into six sections, each of which centres on a different resident of the Burn Estate. There is a very satisfying finale in which the parts of the story (there is already a lot of cross over between the sections) come together.
I particularly liked:
characterisation of the long standing residents
• Douglas Ward and Ian Pavel. They are a Del Boy/Rodney combination, combining incompetence with an inability to tell the truth.
o Don’t spill the contents of an ashes urn!
o the riches of charity shops!
o Trainers. Try Adidas Atlantis, the rarest of the rare...Ultramarine leather, white stripes, gold sole
*. Kate Bush. The artist as serious business ” Try ‘Never for Ever’, that’s her best one. Then ‘Hounds of Love’ then ‘Lionheart, though most wouldn't agree there”(329)
• Henry Szarka and the calming effects of birds of prey in the residential home(!!)
the gangsters
Vincent Barr A perfect portrayal of a ‘big’ man in a local environment. He’s as mean in his seventies as he always was.
A man who loves his dogs ... which leads (ironically) to the most amusing parts of the book
• Frank and his father Scott Hulme help Vincent with a bit of re-hanging of their taxidermist artwork (Ludwig)!!!!!!
• Rachmaninoff Even its name was an aberration; completely at odds as the beast was to the sensual, moonlit melodies of its namesake.(329)
Rachmaninoff’s thing was destroying cardboard. Dad would pick through the rubbish while the dog watched patiently; nothing but an occasional sweep of the tail to hint at any internal psychosis”(334)
* Derek Beecham. A debt collector who capitalises on human weakness and makes you pay for mistakes ever afterwards.
Reflective lives.
• Jim Clarke (of Hessle Rise) recalls his halcyon days; the Acid House rave scene; those music orientated freeze frames when everything seemed possible (The Cure, The Cocteau, Twins, The Smiths). A time of emergent friendships (with JJ and Adam) and the recollection of his moment that was his time, now turned sour. Don’t we all look back on our lives and recognise retrospectively that instant that turned out to be our finest hour?
• Corina Clarke. The most heart-breaking of the characters. A living witness to the destructive effects of addiction. Estrangment from her daughter, betrayal of her partner; but fundamentally, a pillar of the community, and one whose business- hairdressing to all comers, (The Crescent) is the conduit for news to be shared, and for a sense of looking out for others.
> Gary’s newsagents. poor sod.
> Mrs Terry. Under cover of a book, Behind Drawn Shades observer of all that she surveys
> Yvette, the mediating cafe owner
Another (excellent) book (which I read immediately after Ironopolis) is The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas. The two books had a number of stylistic similarities
* Extensive use of footnotes
* The mixture of fact based information (sometimes quite trivial) and pure invention.
For complementary subject matter, the nature of social change, and the changing fabric of society Sam Byers' Perfidious Albion also works well as an accompaniment to Ironopolis.
Highly recommended.
January 28, 2020
In Ironopolis, Glen James Brown gives readers a series of character portraits and histories, linked by places, persons, the folk mythic Peg Powler who waits to drag children down drains and into the river, and most closely linked by discouragement, decline, and despair. Brown tells his stories through letters, interviews, first person voices, and third person narratives. The stories portray a claustrophobic working class community in northern England, once the home of flourishing coal mines and foundries, now on a rapid spiral towards destitution: ”. . .it’s 1991. What ‘trade’ is there? Since I was a lass, the forges have been privatised, consolidated, chopped up, sold off. Why make steel here if it’s cheaper to ship from China? Everybody is being made redundant — tens of thousands of people. Whole communities. Ironopolis is falling.” (p. 32)
Most of Ironopolis’ characters live or lived in “the blocks”: ”. . . there’s this one Smiths song — or is it his solo stuff? — anyway, this song called ‘Every Day is Like Sunday’, which was the blocks to a T: grey. Miserable. Suffocating. I’d look out my bedroom window, up on the fourteenth floor, see concrete to the horizon, and wonder if maybe The Smiths guy had the flat below.” (p. 97) And Morrissey’s “Every Day is Like Sunday”, with its chorus of “Every day is like Sunday / Every day is silent and grey”, perfectly represents the spirit of Ironopolis: ”Etch a postcard: / ’How I dearly wish I was not here’ / In the seaside town / That they forgot to bomb / Come, come, come nuclear bomb”. Ironopolis is miles away, literally, spiritually, and figuratively, from London and even Manchester. Here’s Frank, describing his hopes for maintaining his paternal relationship with his son, Scott: ”No matter where Scott goes, he won’t let that gap widen. Even if he ends up on the other side of the world. / Like Manchester, say.” (p. 194)
Glen James Brown’s Ironopolis has many strengths. Brown’s treatment makes the folk mythic Peg Powler perhaps less vivid but more believable as a fright figure than some other recent folk mythic creatures in novels about more rural villages. The multiple characters speaking through multiple voices are utterly convincing and provide a complex and nuanced portrait of a community. Brown's women are notably equally as convincing as his men. Some novels are anointed by readers and critics, some are not. Ironopolis’s shortlistings for The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction and the Portico Prize hardly guarantee sales. Ironopolis merits wide readership: it’s excellent — more than just promising as a debut novel — but there’s too much of it, especially in in its lengthy penultimate chapter of transcribed interviews. 3.5 stars
Most of Ironopolis’ characters live or lived in “the blocks”: ”. . . there’s this one Smiths song — or is it his solo stuff? — anyway, this song called ‘Every Day is Like Sunday’, which was the blocks to a T: grey. Miserable. Suffocating. I’d look out my bedroom window, up on the fourteenth floor, see concrete to the horizon, and wonder if maybe The Smiths guy had the flat below.” (p. 97) And Morrissey’s “Every Day is Like Sunday”, with its chorus of “Every day is like Sunday / Every day is silent and grey”, perfectly represents the spirit of Ironopolis: ”Etch a postcard: / ’How I dearly wish I was not here’ / In the seaside town / That they forgot to bomb / Come, come, come nuclear bomb”. Ironopolis is miles away, literally, spiritually, and figuratively, from London and even Manchester. Here’s Frank, describing his hopes for maintaining his paternal relationship with his son, Scott: ”No matter where Scott goes, he won’t let that gap widen. Even if he ends up on the other side of the world. / Like Manchester, say.” (p. 194)
Glen James Brown’s Ironopolis has many strengths. Brown’s treatment makes the folk mythic Peg Powler perhaps less vivid but more believable as a fright figure than some other recent folk mythic creatures in novels about more rural villages. The multiple characters speaking through multiple voices are utterly convincing and provide a complex and nuanced portrait of a community. Brown's women are notably equally as convincing as his men. Some novels are anointed by readers and critics, some are not. Ironopolis’s shortlistings for The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction and the Portico Prize hardly guarantee sales. Ironopolis merits wide readership: it’s excellent — more than just promising as a debut novel — but there’s too much of it, especially in in its lengthy penultimate chapter of transcribed interviews. 3.5 stars
August 9, 2020
Amazing. I don't want it to end!
p.s.
Holds up beautifully for rereading, too.
p.s.
Holds up beautifully for rereading, too.
August 15, 2018
It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel. The quality of the writing, the depth of the characters and the complexity of the lives depicted is outstanding. This is the Hillbilly Elegy to an industrial past in the North of England. It’s the loss of community through the physical destruction of concrete buildings but the stories that live on. It’s Thatcherism through the eyes of those that lived it - the striking coal miners, the empty precincts, the bets on the greyhounds that would wipe out debts....
And the legend of Peg Prowler who lived in the sewer system - as much a figure of folklore as was the life the council flat dwellers aspired to beyond the concrete towers.
My only little gripe was the local dialect. I grew up in Middlesbrough and although frequent references to the “bairn” remind us that we are on Teesside and not Yorkshire, where was the rest of the the choice phrases? I don’t hold that against Mr Brown though - this is a brilliant book!
And the legend of Peg Prowler who lived in the sewer system - as much a figure of folklore as was the life the council flat dwellers aspired to beyond the concrete towers.
My only little gripe was the local dialect. I grew up in Middlesbrough and although frequent references to the “bairn” remind us that we are on Teesside and not Yorkshire, where was the rest of the the choice phrases? I don’t hold that against Mr Brown though - this is a brilliant book!
August 18, 2020
Sometimes I just buy a book without reading anything about it. I know it’s a gamble but to be honest, most of my fave reads have been spontaneous buys. I purchased Ironopolis for one reason and that’s because I saw lots of praise by bloggers and Goodreads reviewers who have similar tastes to mine.
Ironopolis did not disappoint – at all.
The book is a series of interlinked short stories – Already something which ticks off a Bob box- situated in a fictional council estate, which is going to be destroyed and it’s inhabitants to be relocated. The six stories focus on a character who lives on the estate. Another location which plays an important part in the book is a disused waterworks factory.
One thing which also drew me to the book is that Glen James Brown plays with the format of each story. The first one is a series of letters from a mother’s deathbed which introduces the setting and all the major themes that are in the book. Also a good number of characters which will appear in later stories show up in this chapter. The penultimate chapter is a series of journal entries and recorded interviews conducted by the son of the dying mother, who is trying to get more insight into New Years Eve/Day explosion but ends up finding out some more about his fathers’ antics.
As we keep on reading, certain events are viewed from different angles and personal stories start to become clearer. By the end of the book, the reader has a complete history of Ironopolis from 1950 to present day. All events are told through three generations of residents.
In the process Glen James Brown is giving us not only a snapshot of working class lives but other aspects of culture. The second story is about the acid rave revolution of the late 80’s and early 90’s, the effects of the tory government in the 80’s and 00’s and the various musical tribes which occur ; raver, teddy boys and 80’s indie kid.
Ironopolis is not a whimsical set of stories. A lot of then are brutal or with an awful twist. The third story, which is a sort of revenge tale could have comes from the same dark world that Roald Dahl or early Iain Banks inhabit. Most of the characters in the book survive by shady means. These people have their addictions and live in a dog eat dog world. There’s a certain grotesque violence which permeates all six stories ; some subtle, others glaringly obvious.
There’s also an element of horror as a mythical beast called Peg Powler, who makes an appearance in all the stories wreaks havoc in the characters minds. Not only is she the major link but she embodies the violent and downright scary elements of the estate block.
Reading Ironopolis was a lot of fun. At times I was shocked, other times I was mesmerised. All the stories were linked cleverly and Glen James brown’s style just grabs you from the first sentence. Just as a trigger warning though, there are some scenes of animals being mistreated so be a bit careful. Other than that this is an unforgettable piece of work.
Ironopolis did not disappoint – at all.
The book is a series of interlinked short stories – Already something which ticks off a Bob box- situated in a fictional council estate, which is going to be destroyed and it’s inhabitants to be relocated. The six stories focus on a character who lives on the estate. Another location which plays an important part in the book is a disused waterworks factory.
One thing which also drew me to the book is that Glen James Brown plays with the format of each story. The first one is a series of letters from a mother’s deathbed which introduces the setting and all the major themes that are in the book. Also a good number of characters which will appear in later stories show up in this chapter. The penultimate chapter is a series of journal entries and recorded interviews conducted by the son of the dying mother, who is trying to get more insight into New Years Eve/Day explosion but ends up finding out some more about his fathers’ antics.
As we keep on reading, certain events are viewed from different angles and personal stories start to become clearer. By the end of the book, the reader has a complete history of Ironopolis from 1950 to present day. All events are told through three generations of residents.
In the process Glen James Brown is giving us not only a snapshot of working class lives but other aspects of culture. The second story is about the acid rave revolution of the late 80’s and early 90’s, the effects of the tory government in the 80’s and 00’s and the various musical tribes which occur ; raver, teddy boys and 80’s indie kid.
Ironopolis is not a whimsical set of stories. A lot of then are brutal or with an awful twist. The third story, which is a sort of revenge tale could have comes from the same dark world that Roald Dahl or early Iain Banks inhabit. Most of the characters in the book survive by shady means. These people have their addictions and live in a dog eat dog world. There’s a certain grotesque violence which permeates all six stories ; some subtle, others glaringly obvious.
There’s also an element of horror as a mythical beast called Peg Powler, who makes an appearance in all the stories wreaks havoc in the characters minds. Not only is she the major link but she embodies the violent and downright scary elements of the estate block.
Reading Ironopolis was a lot of fun. At times I was shocked, other times I was mesmerised. All the stories were linked cleverly and Glen James brown’s style just grabs you from the first sentence. Just as a trigger warning though, there are some scenes of animals being mistreated so be a bit careful. Other than that this is an unforgettable piece of work.
April 11, 2019
Here's my full review: https://behindthecritic.wordpress.com...
I am so moved by this book and I am going to be talking about it for the rest of my life. If I could give this a million stars, I would. I want everyone to read this and I want them to then recommend it to everyone they know. I am currently writing a full-length review on my blog which I will link here when it is done.
I am so moved by this book and I am going to be talking about it for the rest of my life. If I could give this a million stars, I would. I want everyone to read this and I want them to then recommend it to everyone they know. I am currently writing a full-length review on my blog which I will link here when it is done.
April 5, 2022
I’ve read some very good books lately, but few that I have enjoyed and admired as much as Ironopolis. This novel by Glen James Brown is set in the Burn Council Estate, a fictional housing estate in Middlesborough (hence the title, an old nickname for the Yorkshire town). The estate was built in the heyday of operation of the local steelworks but is now facing and undergoing the demolition and “regeneration” typical of the post-industrial era.
The novel is made up of six interlinked stories, each with its own narrator and approach. Thus, the opening segment, set in 1991, is in epistolary style, as a middle-aged woman succumbing to cancer writes to an art dealer about her years of friendship with the now-famous cult painter Una Cruikshank. The penultimate chapter consists of transcripts of interviews (complete with footnotes) conducted by the woman’s son Alan who, almost three decades later, is investigating an episode of recent local history (the explosion of a wartime ordnance on New Year’s Eve) only to end up discovering long-buried secrets about his family. Other chapters adopt a more conventional style, and focus on other characters who live on the estate, such as Jim Clarke, a bisexual man who comes into his own in the acid music scene, or his sister, local hairdresser and gambling addict Corina Clarke.
The way in which Brown links the various narrative and plot threads is hugely impressive. At the beginning, the reader feels thrown in at the deep end. It takes some concentration to get to grips with the context. But the longer one reads, the more pieces fall into place, and new connections become evident. Some characters haunt all the chapters, despite not having an own voice. A case in point is painter Una Cruikshank, whose Gothic paintings of ghostly riverbanks are referenced in all the segments even though what we learn about her is “second hand”. The same goes for Vincent Barr, the local “strongman”, who features repeatedly as an object of terror, but eventually turns out to have his own fragilities. Perhaps the most (perplexingly? unexpectedly?) effective touch is the introduction of the mythical figure of Peg Powler, a female creature, at once horrid and seductive, said to inhabit the River Tees. Peg Powler makes an appearance in all the segments of the novel, lending a supernatural aura and an element of psychogeography to what is an otherwise ultra-realist working-class novel.
Glen James Brown’s narrative prowess would have been enough to make Ironopolis a great novel. But there’s more to it than post-modern bravura. For instance, Brown evokes a strong sense of place – the Burn Council Estate is so vividly described that one would be forgiven for thinking that it is a real rather than fictional setting. He also creates some memorable characters – I’m thinking particularly of Alan Barr, who comes into his own in the final parts of the book, or the tragic figure of Jim Clarke, still getting high to The Acid Life by Farley “Jackmaster” Funk for the sake of old times.
Ironopolis also has a political subtext (its shortlisting for the Orwell Prize is unsurprising as much as it is deserved). The novel's description of working-class life is bleak but not unremittingly so, finding warmth, humanity and a vein of black humour even in the direst of circumstances. This ambivalence is evident in the conflict feelings of the residents about the regeneration of the housing estate. Some see it as an opportunity to escape, others as the loss of a shared lifestyle going back generations.
This is a brilliant debut novel, but one which would have been no less impressive at the peak of a writer’s career.
https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/20...
The novel is made up of six interlinked stories, each with its own narrator and approach. Thus, the opening segment, set in 1991, is in epistolary style, as a middle-aged woman succumbing to cancer writes to an art dealer about her years of friendship with the now-famous cult painter Una Cruikshank. The penultimate chapter consists of transcripts of interviews (complete with footnotes) conducted by the woman’s son Alan who, almost three decades later, is investigating an episode of recent local history (the explosion of a wartime ordnance on New Year’s Eve) only to end up discovering long-buried secrets about his family. Other chapters adopt a more conventional style, and focus on other characters who live on the estate, such as Jim Clarke, a bisexual man who comes into his own in the acid music scene, or his sister, local hairdresser and gambling addict Corina Clarke.
The way in which Brown links the various narrative and plot threads is hugely impressive. At the beginning, the reader feels thrown in at the deep end. It takes some concentration to get to grips with the context. But the longer one reads, the more pieces fall into place, and new connections become evident. Some characters haunt all the chapters, despite not having an own voice. A case in point is painter Una Cruikshank, whose Gothic paintings of ghostly riverbanks are referenced in all the segments even though what we learn about her is “second hand”. The same goes for Vincent Barr, the local “strongman”, who features repeatedly as an object of terror, but eventually turns out to have his own fragilities. Perhaps the most (perplexingly? unexpectedly?) effective touch is the introduction of the mythical figure of Peg Powler, a female creature, at once horrid and seductive, said to inhabit the River Tees. Peg Powler makes an appearance in all the segments of the novel, lending a supernatural aura and an element of psychogeography to what is an otherwise ultra-realist working-class novel.
Glen James Brown’s narrative prowess would have been enough to make Ironopolis a great novel. But there’s more to it than post-modern bravura. For instance, Brown evokes a strong sense of place – the Burn Council Estate is so vividly described that one would be forgiven for thinking that it is a real rather than fictional setting. He also creates some memorable characters – I’m thinking particularly of Alan Barr, who comes into his own in the final parts of the book, or the tragic figure of Jim Clarke, still getting high to The Acid Life by Farley “Jackmaster” Funk for the sake of old times.
Ironopolis also has a political subtext (its shortlisting for the Orwell Prize is unsurprising as much as it is deserved). The novel's description of working-class life is bleak but not unremittingly so, finding warmth, humanity and a vein of black humour even in the direst of circumstances. This ambivalence is evident in the conflict feelings of the residents about the regeneration of the housing estate. Some see it as an opportunity to escape, others as the loss of a shared lifestyle going back generations.
This is a brilliant debut novel, but one which would have been no less impressive at the peak of a writer’s career.
https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/20...
September 11, 2025
Une incroyable claque littéraire, pour un premier roman, l'auteur ose sortir des sentiers battus et offre une lecture inclassable. Et ça fait du bien, ça faisait longtemps que je n'avais pas été autant déstabilisée par une lecture (dans le bon sens du terme).
Nous voici au cœur d'Ironopolis, le surnom donné à une cité ouvrière du nord de l'Angleterre. Une cité qui tombe en ruines, achevée par des promoteurs immobiliers qui rachètent pour une bouchée de pain les lotissements sociaux pour reconstruire des logements hors de prix. Mais avant que cette cité ne s'effondre, on va suivre six personnages sous six formes différentes pour retracer la vie de cette cité. On commence par une première partie épistolaire, on ne sait pas trop où ça va, puis on passe au personnage suivant et les premiers éléments commencent à se recouper, et ainsi de suite. On retrace ainsi plusieurs moments clés de l'évolution de la cité, à travers des personnages complexes et passionnants. En plus d'être un roman choral et un roman social, c'est aussi un récit légèrement fantastique et saupoudré d'un petit peu d'horreur avec une légende urbaine effrayante qui va servir de fil rouge...
C'est une vraie merveille qui amène une véritable bouffée d'air frais à la littérature, aussi bien par le fond que par la forme avec un incroyable travail d'écriture !
Nous voici au cœur d'Ironopolis, le surnom donné à une cité ouvrière du nord de l'Angleterre. Une cité qui tombe en ruines, achevée par des promoteurs immobiliers qui rachètent pour une bouchée de pain les lotissements sociaux pour reconstruire des logements hors de prix. Mais avant que cette cité ne s'effondre, on va suivre six personnages sous six formes différentes pour retracer la vie de cette cité. On commence par une première partie épistolaire, on ne sait pas trop où ça va, puis on passe au personnage suivant et les premiers éléments commencent à se recouper, et ainsi de suite. On retrace ainsi plusieurs moments clés de l'évolution de la cité, à travers des personnages complexes et passionnants. En plus d'être un roman choral et un roman social, c'est aussi un récit légèrement fantastique et saupoudré d'un petit peu d'horreur avec une légende urbaine effrayante qui va servir de fil rouge...
C'est une vraie merveille qui amène une véritable bouffée d'air frais à la littérature, aussi bien par le fond que par la forme avec un incroyable travail d'écriture !
August 20, 2024
" I am just a local history buff. Social housing history, to be precise. But I'll be sad to see the estate go. Once a community is broken up, the culture and stories - the oral histories -it's all lost. I'm just doing my bit to preserve it."
This quote from one of the characters of this great book is an accurate summary of what the author is trying to do. Glen James Brown’s novel is set in a semi-fictionalised Middlesbrough, a city that was heavily bombed in the Second World War because of its huge iron and steel industries. The Burn Estate, known locally and with bleak humour as Ironopolis, is built on top of the Victorian terraces that served the growing industrial workforce of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Ironopolis envisions the slow dilapidation and death of the estate, a social housing experiment in brutalist architecture that imprisons not just the bodies but the minds of the people who live there.
The novel is comprised of a series of self-contained sections, often narrated by one character and telling the stories of others. The lives of the characters are marked by mental, physical and emotional trauma but always striving for connection, intimacy and meaning in a world of alienation.
Political and historical, this book reminded me of early Ken Loach films.
This quote from one of the characters of this great book is an accurate summary of what the author is trying to do. Glen James Brown’s novel is set in a semi-fictionalised Middlesbrough, a city that was heavily bombed in the Second World War because of its huge iron and steel industries. The Burn Estate, known locally and with bleak humour as Ironopolis, is built on top of the Victorian terraces that served the growing industrial workforce of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Ironopolis envisions the slow dilapidation and death of the estate, a social housing experiment in brutalist architecture that imprisons not just the bodies but the minds of the people who live there.
The novel is comprised of a series of self-contained sections, often narrated by one character and telling the stories of others. The lives of the characters are marked by mental, physical and emotional trauma but always striving for connection, intimacy and meaning in a world of alienation.
Political and historical, this book reminded me of early Ken Loach films.
May 28, 2018
Ironopolis, by Glen James Brown, is a novel structured as a collection of interrelated stories detailing pivotal events in the lives of residents of a Middlesbrough housing estate across three generations. The setting is key. Built after the second world war to replace slum dwellings with practical family homes, the houses and brutalist high rises were not well maintained by the council who owned and managed them. Eventually the decaying stock was sold on to residents or a housing association before being forcibly purchased for area regeneration.
On one side of the estate is an old waterworks, bombed during the war and left derelict. The danger this poses proves a draw for the local kids with devastating consequences for two of the characters featured. Parents try to persuade their children to stay away by telling them stories of a water dwelling crone who could lure them to their doom.
There is a sense of community on the estate but also fear. Hard men make their money by nefarious means, uncaring of the damage wrought on those they snare. There is distressing cruelty. Jobs are physically tough and increasingly rare. Drink, drugs, gambling, theft and extortion are a way of life – the discontented seeking distraction from their lack of prospects across the years.
The book opens with a collection of letters written by Jean Barr to a London art dealer in 1991. She is recalling a childhood friend whose artistic output has recently been exhibited to critical acclaim. Jean is married to Vincent, a much feared character in the local area. Their only child, Alan, suffered life changing injuries as a teenager during a game at the waterworks with his peers.
The second story introduces Jim Clark, another victim of the waterworks’ dangers. He is now regarded as a freak due to his injuries, his sister Corina one of the few people who will speak to him civilly. It is widely believed that Vincent threw Jim down a well during an illegal rave organised by the boy’s friends, whom his parents disdained. Jim’s story is one of alienation, finding a place he felt he belonged and then having it snatched away.
The third story tells of a father and son, Scott and Frank Hulme. Frank was one of the boys involved when Alan was injured. Now he is taking his son to apologise to Vincent for another misdemeanour. History threatens to repeat itself.
Next up the reader learns Corina’s story, how she became estranged from everything she should have held dear. Her tale is set on her last day in a hair salon she established, unable now to trade due to the clearing of the estate. As with all the histories there are references to characters previously featured. Each story adds depth as perspectives shift, details are added and time frames vary .
The penultimate story is told by Alan as he searches for information about Douglas Ward, an associate of Vincent. Alan has watched behind the scenes of his father’s dealings, not always realising at the time their significance. Now he wishes to better understand the man, his activities, and the rumours that generated such fear.
The final section is also narrated by Alan and ties up several recurring threads. By this time the reader is familiar with a community facing dispersal, as happened to the slum residents when the estate was built. Although the older generation believe the young are getting worse, these stories demonstrate that the wheel has simply turned. Some will escape to what may be regarded as a better way of living. For many though, this is what they are and will be wherever they live.
The writing is tenacious in its depiction of working class life, with an undercurrent of compassion even during the darkest scenes. The reader can empathise with the various characters while wishing they could somehow find a way to change. Yet perhaps that is my middle class prejudice speaking. Those not content with their lot in these stories demonstrated little desire to become like the families on the regenerated streets. This may be a fictionalised history but is told in an authentic voice from a people who too few are willing to hear.
My copy of this book was provided gratis by the publisher, Parthian Books.
On one side of the estate is an old waterworks, bombed during the war and left derelict. The danger this poses proves a draw for the local kids with devastating consequences for two of the characters featured. Parents try to persuade their children to stay away by telling them stories of a water dwelling crone who could lure them to their doom.
There is a sense of community on the estate but also fear. Hard men make their money by nefarious means, uncaring of the damage wrought on those they snare. There is distressing cruelty. Jobs are physically tough and increasingly rare. Drink, drugs, gambling, theft and extortion are a way of life – the discontented seeking distraction from their lack of prospects across the years.
The book opens with a collection of letters written by Jean Barr to a London art dealer in 1991. She is recalling a childhood friend whose artistic output has recently been exhibited to critical acclaim. Jean is married to Vincent, a much feared character in the local area. Their only child, Alan, suffered life changing injuries as a teenager during a game at the waterworks with his peers.
The second story introduces Jim Clark, another victim of the waterworks’ dangers. He is now regarded as a freak due to his injuries, his sister Corina one of the few people who will speak to him civilly. It is widely believed that Vincent threw Jim down a well during an illegal rave organised by the boy’s friends, whom his parents disdained. Jim’s story is one of alienation, finding a place he felt he belonged and then having it snatched away.
The third story tells of a father and son, Scott and Frank Hulme. Frank was one of the boys involved when Alan was injured. Now he is taking his son to apologise to Vincent for another misdemeanour. History threatens to repeat itself.
Next up the reader learns Corina’s story, how she became estranged from everything she should have held dear. Her tale is set on her last day in a hair salon she established, unable now to trade due to the clearing of the estate. As with all the histories there are references to characters previously featured. Each story adds depth as perspectives shift, details are added and time frames vary .
The penultimate story is told by Alan as he searches for information about Douglas Ward, an associate of Vincent. Alan has watched behind the scenes of his father’s dealings, not always realising at the time their significance. Now he wishes to better understand the man, his activities, and the rumours that generated such fear.
The final section is also narrated by Alan and ties up several recurring threads. By this time the reader is familiar with a community facing dispersal, as happened to the slum residents when the estate was built. Although the older generation believe the young are getting worse, these stories demonstrate that the wheel has simply turned. Some will escape to what may be regarded as a better way of living. For many though, this is what they are and will be wherever they live.
The writing is tenacious in its depiction of working class life, with an undercurrent of compassion even during the darkest scenes. The reader can empathise with the various characters while wishing they could somehow find a way to change. Yet perhaps that is my middle class prejudice speaking. Those not content with their lot in these stories demonstrated little desire to become like the families on the regenerated streets. This may be a fictionalised history but is told in an authentic voice from a people who too few are willing to hear.
My copy of this book was provided gratis by the publisher, Parthian Books.
August 29, 2022
BOOK 6 (OUT OF 21) OF MY HOLIDAY READS - AUGUST 2022
5*
I've tried putting my thoughts down about this book into a concise and unbiased review but I genuinely don't think I can. This book hits too close to home. I mean it's written about home. The Burns Estate isn't real but I can think of many estates that remind me of the Burns Estate. All my career, I've taught children from these estates so this book resonates with me.
Honestly, I couldn't face this book at home. I've had it on my kindle for ages and I couldn't "open" this book. I don't think I could be whilst I was surrounded by everything this book speaks of. I'm currently on holiday thousands of miles away and I'm far enough away that I could read this without feeling trapped or extremely seen.
I didn't think I'd like the structure but I was wrong. This book is Boro in a nutshell. Everyone knows everyone. It's hard to explain that but it's like as soon as you enter Teesside, you enter a dome. (I'm thinking King's Under the Dome.) The stories interweave and everyone knows everyone's business. It may sound like village life magnified but that's life in Boro. This idea is perfectly captured by a conversation I earlier had with my parents as they're constantly on Facebook reading the next bit of "news" from Teesside Live or Teesside Connected - "news" that I couldn't care less about.
"Peg Powler is going to get you if you're still in the toilets when the hand dryer stops running". This was a constant call in my primary school, which made me terrified to pee at school. It may also perhaps be the root behind why I prefer hand towels to a hand dryer. Peg Powler, the myth, runs as an undercurrent in this novel, which ties it in really well.
I also wanted to add the myth/the legend of The Day in the Dark . The fact they talk about it freaks me out. A lot of my family were young when it happened. It's sort of like one of those things you don't believe happens but then my ex driving instructor mentioned it and yeah this day freaks me out.
I can't sum up how I feel about this book. I just know that this book is Boro and Brown is an incredibly skilled writer. I can't believe he's not from Boro.
5*
I've tried putting my thoughts down about this book into a concise and unbiased review but I genuinely don't think I can. This book hits too close to home. I mean it's written about home. The Burns Estate isn't real but I can think of many estates that remind me of the Burns Estate. All my career, I've taught children from these estates so this book resonates with me.
Honestly, I couldn't face this book at home. I've had it on my kindle for ages and I couldn't "open" this book. I don't think I could be whilst I was surrounded by everything this book speaks of. I'm currently on holiday thousands of miles away and I'm far enough away that I could read this without feeling trapped or extremely seen.
I didn't think I'd like the structure but I was wrong. This book is Boro in a nutshell. Everyone knows everyone. It's hard to explain that but it's like as soon as you enter Teesside, you enter a dome. (I'm thinking King's Under the Dome.) The stories interweave and everyone knows everyone's business. It may sound like village life magnified but that's life in Boro. This idea is perfectly captured by a conversation I earlier had with my parents as they're constantly on Facebook reading the next bit of "news" from Teesside Live or Teesside Connected - "news" that I couldn't care less about.
"Peg Powler is going to get you if you're still in the toilets when the hand dryer stops running". This was a constant call in my primary school, which made me terrified to pee at school. It may also perhaps be the root behind why I prefer hand towels to a hand dryer. Peg Powler, the myth, runs as an undercurrent in this novel, which ties it in really well.
I also wanted to add the myth/the legend of The Day in the Dark . The fact they talk about it freaks me out. A lot of my family were young when it happened. It's sort of like one of those things you don't believe happens but then my ex driving instructor mentioned it and yeah this day freaks me out.
I can't sum up how I feel about this book. I just know that this book is Boro and Brown is an incredibly skilled writer. I can't believe he's not from Boro.
March 30, 2020
The first book I read on the recommendation from someone on Hinge (yep, my page says looking for: "book recommendations"). Was wickedly good too, even if the girl who recommended pied me off completely
July 10, 2021
I think I went into this looking for some kind of Marxist didacticism, with the reality of growing up on a council estate in the post-industrial North-East being shown to inevitably shape your life and opportunities. And the book does do that, but it's not its primary mode - it's ultimately more concerned with ideas of remembering and forgetting, truth and fiction, and the tensions inherent in familial bonds, though these are very much still refracted through, and given particular qualities by, the oftentimes fraught Teesside world the author brings to life for us.
It's probably better too for avoiding such explicit didacticism and telling stories in some way for their own sake, so bravo to the author for that. At times characterisation and voice is a little weak, at times there are sections that perhaps could have been better integrated to the novel as a whole, but overall this was something solid and worthwhile, and a good counterweight to the southern English literature I have now realised our engagement with 'English' texts is often dominated by.
It's probably better too for avoiding such explicit didacticism and telling stories in some way for their own sake, so bravo to the author for that. At times characterisation and voice is a little weak, at times there are sections that perhaps could have been better integrated to the novel as a whole, but overall this was something solid and worthwhile, and a good counterweight to the southern English literature I have now realised our engagement with 'English' texts is often dominated by.
January 24, 2019
The Burn Council Estate in Middlesbrough is being demolished. Row upon row of council housing succumbing to the bulldozers of the Rowan Tree developers. And as the concrete nibblers close in, secret history starts to emerge.
Once upon a time, Middlesbrough was Ironopolis, the steel and iron manufacturing centre of the kingdom. And a long time before that, the River Tees was the home of Peg Powler, a supernatural hag who lured children to their deaths. More recently, the Burn estate was terrorised by Vincent Barr, the villain with a finger in every pie.
In Ironopolis, six discrete sections bring Vincent to life, along with those whose lives were touched by him and by those around him. We see waves spreading out through society, violent, gruesome waves. Also waves of love, hope, fear, loneliness. The novel is complex in structure, including letters, interviews, footnotes, autobiography and editorial. Each section sheds a new light on previous sections; characters who are the heroes of one section may be the villains of another. The pacing is perfect, and new revelations keep coming right up to the death. The various narrative voices are well defined, often moving and really hard to put down. Whether it is Jean Barr writing letters to an unseen man about a childhood friend; or the story of a young man discovering acid house raves; or a hairdresser with a gambling problem; they are all so different yet add up to a coherent whole.
The title is perhaps ambitious. The novel doesn't really give a story of the city, but it does give a detailed slice of life over several decades of a select group of people in a select part of the city. In truth, though, and despite the many references to Peg Powler, there is a feeling that this might have taken place in any estate, anywhere in England. But it is a damn good story; the characters and locations feel real; and the changing social values ring true.
Ironopolis really is an exceptional book, more accessible than the blurb might lead a reader to expect, but still with many layers of complexity.
Once upon a time, Middlesbrough was Ironopolis, the steel and iron manufacturing centre of the kingdom. And a long time before that, the River Tees was the home of Peg Powler, a supernatural hag who lured children to their deaths. More recently, the Burn estate was terrorised by Vincent Barr, the villain with a finger in every pie.
In Ironopolis, six discrete sections bring Vincent to life, along with those whose lives were touched by him and by those around him. We see waves spreading out through society, violent, gruesome waves. Also waves of love, hope, fear, loneliness. The novel is complex in structure, including letters, interviews, footnotes, autobiography and editorial. Each section sheds a new light on previous sections; characters who are the heroes of one section may be the villains of another. The pacing is perfect, and new revelations keep coming right up to the death. The various narrative voices are well defined, often moving and really hard to put down. Whether it is Jean Barr writing letters to an unseen man about a childhood friend; or the story of a young man discovering acid house raves; or a hairdresser with a gambling problem; they are all so different yet add up to a coherent whole.
The title is perhaps ambitious. The novel doesn't really give a story of the city, but it does give a detailed slice of life over several decades of a select group of people in a select part of the city. In truth, though, and despite the many references to Peg Powler, there is a feeling that this might have taken place in any estate, anywhere in England. But it is a damn good story; the characters and locations feel real; and the changing social values ring true.
Ironopolis really is an exceptional book, more accessible than the blurb might lead a reader to expect, but still with many layers of complexity.
March 12, 2022
The Burn Council Estate in Middlesbrough is being demolished. Row upon row of council housing succumbing to the bulldozers of the Rowan Tree developers. And as the concrete nibblers close in, secret history starts to emerge.
Once upon a time, Middlesbrough was Ironopolis, the steel and iron manufacturing centre of the kingdom. And a long time before that, the River Tees was the home of Peg Powler, a supernatural hag who lured children to their deaths. More recently, the Burn estate was terrorised by Vincent Barr, the villain with a finger in every pie.
In Ironopolis, six discrete sections bring Vincent to life, along with those whose lives were touched by him and by those around him. We see waves spreading out through society, violent, gruesome waves. Also waves of love, hope, fear, loneliness. The novel is complex in structure, including letters, interviews, footnotes, autobiography and editorial. Each section sheds a new light on previous sections; characters who are the heroes of one section may be the villains of another. The pacing is perfect, and new revelations keep coming right up to the death. The various narrative voices are well defined, often moving and really hard to put down. Whether it is Jean Barr writing letters to an unseen man about a childhood friend; or the story of a young man discovering acid house raves; or a hairdresser with a gambling problem; they are all so different yet add up to a coherent whole.
The title is perhaps ambitious. The novel doesn't really give a story of the city, but it does give a detailed slice of life over several decades of a select group of people in a select part of the city. In truth, though, and despite the many references to Peg Powler, there is a feeling that this might have taken place in any estate, anywhere in England. But it is a damn good story; the characters and locations feel real; and the changing social values ring true.
Ironopolis really is an exceptional book, more accessible than the blurb might lead a reader to expect, but still with many layers of complexity.
Once upon a time, Middlesbrough was Ironopolis, the steel and iron manufacturing centre of the kingdom. And a long time before that, the River Tees was the home of Peg Powler, a supernatural hag who lured children to their deaths. More recently, the Burn estate was terrorised by Vincent Barr, the villain with a finger in every pie.
In Ironopolis, six discrete sections bring Vincent to life, along with those whose lives were touched by him and by those around him. We see waves spreading out through society, violent, gruesome waves. Also waves of love, hope, fear, loneliness. The novel is complex in structure, including letters, interviews, footnotes, autobiography and editorial. Each section sheds a new light on previous sections; characters who are the heroes of one section may be the villains of another. The pacing is perfect, and new revelations keep coming right up to the death. The various narrative voices are well defined, often moving and really hard to put down. Whether it is Jean Barr writing letters to an unseen man about a childhood friend; or the story of a young man discovering acid house raves; or a hairdresser with a gambling problem; they are all so different yet add up to a coherent whole.
The title is perhaps ambitious. The novel doesn't really give a story of the city, but it does give a detailed slice of life over several decades of a select group of people in a select part of the city. In truth, though, and despite the many references to Peg Powler, there is a feeling that this might have taken place in any estate, anywhere in England. But it is a damn good story; the characters and locations feel real; and the changing social values ring true.
Ironopolis really is an exceptional book, more accessible than the blurb might lead a reader to expect, but still with many layers of complexity.
November 29, 2018
The cover would have worked better in black and white. In my own mind I have the opening credits of Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads . Brown integrates elements of myth, urban legend, and social history to create a novel that is at times highly disturbing and brutal in its ugliness, and at other times, hauntingly beautiful.
The book is set in Middlesborough on a council estate that is on its last legs chiefly due to the decimation of its iron and steel industries in the raw 1990s. The crumbling estate and its buildings are symbolic of the characters in the novel. Each of the seven sections of the novel tell an individual's story, and of their mental or physical suffering.
If it has a weakness, it is that the stories are a bit too separate, and that as often in this format for a novel, some are more compelling than others. For example, Jean, whose letters make up the first section reach heights the subsequent sections never quite get to.
The book is set in Middlesborough on a council estate that is on its last legs chiefly due to the decimation of its iron and steel industries in the raw 1990s. The crumbling estate and its buildings are symbolic of the characters in the novel. Each of the seven sections of the novel tell an individual's story, and of their mental or physical suffering.
If it has a weakness, it is that the stories are a bit too separate, and that as often in this format for a novel, some are more compelling than others. For example, Jean, whose letters make up the first section reach heights the subsequent sections never quite get to.
September 13, 2018
Brown encapsulates the cold harsh somewhat forgotten North East England perfectly.
A profound page turner to say the least.
A profound page turner to say the least.
March 30, 2020
Outstanding writing and storytelling. I heard about it on a local radio piece about the Portico Prize , which I now think it should have won. As a Middlesbrough lass myself I was keen to read this ,as my much maligned birthplace is rarely used as a setting for a novel. If it is , it tends to be cast as gritty , grim and gloomy . I can't deny this book does give us the three g's in spadefuls but it has an underlying compassion in it ,with chinks of light , that highlight the strength and resilience of the characters. It's pointless me describing the book ,as others have done this far better than I could hope to. Things that have stuck with me particularly, is the quality of the characterisation and friendship of Una and Jean . I can honestly say , having struggled my way through the much (over) lauded 'classic' Elena Ferrante books about the friendship between two women ,similar in age and background to the characters in this book. Brown ,to me, in just 76 small pages ,has achieved a better understanding of his characters than Ferrante did with her's in 4 big books! I find it amazing that the author could give such depth to these two women, in what is a long chapter.
I enjoyed the underlying story of Peg Powler . A figure that is part of the folklore of Middlesbrough and the Tees Valley Her name is used as a threat to frighten children . Though I understand the real telling of the folklore suggests she was fonder of luring men, a kind of scary Boro siren ! Most of the men in the story meet her at some time in their lives , often at times of crisis. This meeting will colour their lives.
One little niggle was the dialect . I know this book is only based on Middlesbrough ,as geographically the locations didn't match up with the descriptions but the language was off in places . Local dialect used by the author that didn't fit were 'hinny , bonny lad , haway, stotties ' and some others. They did jar a bit with me ,as they were too Geordie and Middlebrough folk have a far more Yorkshire turn to their dialect . My neighbour and friend , a Middlesbrough dialect expert with a website resource ,could have pointed out the correct words.
In summary , it reminded me of Steinbeck in places , who also created undeniably flawed characters ,that you could not help but feel invested in and also Kate Atkinson , another great Northern storyteller , who is similarly able to spin these great stories together with multiple characters, that keep you hooked .I truly think this writer will go on to write a classic ,as the quality of his first book is impressive .It is the best bit of contemporary writing I have read , since The Goldfinch , 3 years ago . So well done lad !
I enjoyed the underlying story of Peg Powler . A figure that is part of the folklore of Middlesbrough and the Tees Valley Her name is used as a threat to frighten children . Though I understand the real telling of the folklore suggests she was fonder of luring men, a kind of scary Boro siren ! Most of the men in the story meet her at some time in their lives , often at times of crisis. This meeting will colour their lives.
One little niggle was the dialect . I know this book is only based on Middlesbrough ,as geographically the locations didn't match up with the descriptions but the language was off in places . Local dialect used by the author that didn't fit were 'hinny , bonny lad , haway, stotties ' and some others. They did jar a bit with me ,as they were too Geordie and Middlebrough folk have a far more Yorkshire turn to their dialect . My neighbour and friend , a Middlesbrough dialect expert with a website resource ,could have pointed out the correct words.
In summary , it reminded me of Steinbeck in places , who also created undeniably flawed characters ,that you could not help but feel invested in and also Kate Atkinson , another great Northern storyteller , who is similarly able to spin these great stories together with multiple characters, that keep you hooked .I truly think this writer will go on to write a classic ,as the quality of his first book is impressive .It is the best bit of contemporary writing I have read , since The Goldfinch , 3 years ago . So well done lad !
December 21, 2025
Quel roman étrange qui tourne autour du mythe de Peg Powler, jeune fille épouvantail qui effraye les petits enfants. A-t-elle existé ? Certains personnages du roman l’ont entendu, et l’artiste Una Cruickshank l’a rencontré et peinte à de multiples reprises.
Le décor : la ville de Teesside, rebaptisée Ironopolis par ses habitants car c’est une ancienne ville métallurgique. Et plus particulièrement sa banlieue pauvre avec ses logements sociaux humides et dégradés ; son ancienne usine des eaux entourée d’un champ d’herbes hautes au milieu duquel trône un puits jamais bouché.
Dans ce décor Vincent est le roi : il fait peur à tout le monde, y compris son fils. Il possède un garage mais s’occupe également de tuer les lévriers qui ne gagneront plus de courses.
Et puis il y a sa femme Jean qui a bien connue l’artiste Una ; Corina la joueuse compulsive et coiffeuse et son frère Jim qui écoute de l’acid house et consomme de la drogue.
Il y a l’explosion du Nouvel an 1993 et le jour des ténèbres le 3 juillet 1968.
Il y a surtout l’opération régénération de Rowan-Tree Housing Association chargée de déloger les habitants pour reconstruire des logements plus sains.
Les leitmotivs donnent le ton : des personnages avec une dent dans la bouche ; des tuyaux qui font sans cesse du bruit ; Kate Bush et fond sonore.
Une lecture déstabilisante à tout point de vue, un premier roman ambitieux.
Néanmoins, j’aurais aimé que le propos social affiché du roman soit plus mis en avant. Il ne fait que se deviner.
Quelques citations :
« le plus dur dans l’addiction n’est pas de faire face aux conséquences de vos actions, mais de maintenir un semblant de normalité tout le reste du temps. » (p.300)
« La vérité est un piège. Elle t’emporte au plus profond d’un labyrinthe toujours plus complexe, elle te mène au-delà de tes propres erreurs, de tes déceptions, de tes humilitaions, et de tes regrets. La vérité finit par te convaincre que tu ne seras jamais assez fort pour faire demi-tour et revenir en arrière. » (p.500)
L’image que je retiendrai :
Celle de la maison de Corina qui suinte l’humidité de partout.
https://www.alexmotamots.fr/ironopoli...
Le décor : la ville de Teesside, rebaptisée Ironopolis par ses habitants car c’est une ancienne ville métallurgique. Et plus particulièrement sa banlieue pauvre avec ses logements sociaux humides et dégradés ; son ancienne usine des eaux entourée d’un champ d’herbes hautes au milieu duquel trône un puits jamais bouché.
Dans ce décor Vincent est le roi : il fait peur à tout le monde, y compris son fils. Il possède un garage mais s’occupe également de tuer les lévriers qui ne gagneront plus de courses.
Et puis il y a sa femme Jean qui a bien connue l’artiste Una ; Corina la joueuse compulsive et coiffeuse et son frère Jim qui écoute de l’acid house et consomme de la drogue.
Il y a l’explosion du Nouvel an 1993 et le jour des ténèbres le 3 juillet 1968.
Il y a surtout l’opération régénération de Rowan-Tree Housing Association chargée de déloger les habitants pour reconstruire des logements plus sains.
Les leitmotivs donnent le ton : des personnages avec une dent dans la bouche ; des tuyaux qui font sans cesse du bruit ; Kate Bush et fond sonore.
Une lecture déstabilisante à tout point de vue, un premier roman ambitieux.
Néanmoins, j’aurais aimé que le propos social affiché du roman soit plus mis en avant. Il ne fait que se deviner.
Quelques citations :
« le plus dur dans l’addiction n’est pas de faire face aux conséquences de vos actions, mais de maintenir un semblant de normalité tout le reste du temps. » (p.300)
« La vérité est un piège. Elle t’emporte au plus profond d’un labyrinthe toujours plus complexe, elle te mène au-delà de tes propres erreurs, de tes déceptions, de tes humilitaions, et de tes regrets. La vérité finit par te convaincre que tu ne seras jamais assez fort pour faire demi-tour et revenir en arrière. » (p.500)
L’image que je retiendrai :
Celle de la maison de Corina qui suinte l’humidité de partout.
https://www.alexmotamots.fr/ironopoli...
December 1, 2018
Utterly magnificent. Tough and moving.
A Teesside Housing Estate shown through various lenses: soft, acid, violent, addicted, murdering, pedantic, with a light thread of magical realism running through. Shades of David Mitchel (Cloud Atlas) but utterly unique.
A triumph of technique, with the cleverness never overshadowing the story. And what a story! What happened to Lily Butler? Will Alan ever understand his father? What of artist Una and the green girl? Is Peg coming to get you?
Greyhounds and sparrowhawks, taxidermy and prison poetry, petty crime and art history, love and loss, Glen James Brown pulls it all together into an unforgettable tapestry. As Corina, the hairdresser, says. "Either you let the loose ends drive you mad or you tie them together in whatever way keeps you going."
Why is this not up for all the major prizes? Ironopolis is simply brilliant.
A Teesside Housing Estate shown through various lenses: soft, acid, violent, addicted, murdering, pedantic, with a light thread of magical realism running through. Shades of David Mitchel (Cloud Atlas) but utterly unique.
A triumph of technique, with the cleverness never overshadowing the story. And what a story! What happened to Lily Butler? Will Alan ever understand his father? What of artist Una and the green girl? Is Peg coming to get you?
Greyhounds and sparrowhawks, taxidermy and prison poetry, petty crime and art history, love and loss, Glen James Brown pulls it all together into an unforgettable tapestry. As Corina, the hairdresser, says. "Either you let the loose ends drive you mad or you tie them together in whatever way keeps you going."
Why is this not up for all the major prizes? Ironopolis is simply brilliant.
February 3, 2020
I was recommended Ironopolis by a friend and I couldn’t have imagined it to be as good as it was. This is a brilliant read and unbelievable first book by Glen.
I was left completely blown away by the depth of character development and how Glen has managed to encapsulate such a range of personalities and stories. Each one of them seemed familiar having grown up in Thornaby, and living and working around the North East all my life. Not one of them is forced, and each has a rich, detailed story which left me fascinated about each of them throughout the book.
I was also hugely impressed by the way socio-political trends and changes are demonstrated across such a long timescale without being forced, through the generations and experiences of those affected the most, who have lived through them first-hand.
The stories were each told incredibly well with beautiful nuance and real heart, and the intertwining of folklore and elements of North East life was fantastic.
An absolutely wonderful book and he’s set the bar incredibly high for himself for a followup, still can’t believe this is a debut!
I was left completely blown away by the depth of character development and how Glen has managed to encapsulate such a range of personalities and stories. Each one of them seemed familiar having grown up in Thornaby, and living and working around the North East all my life. Not one of them is forced, and each has a rich, detailed story which left me fascinated about each of them throughout the book.
I was also hugely impressed by the way socio-political trends and changes are demonstrated across such a long timescale without being forced, through the generations and experiences of those affected the most, who have lived through them first-hand.
The stories were each told incredibly well with beautiful nuance and real heart, and the intertwining of folklore and elements of North East life was fantastic.
An absolutely wonderful book and he’s set the bar incredibly high for himself for a followup, still can’t believe this is a debut!
May 18, 2025
This book has made me extremely scared of going to the toilet and only a literary genius can make such an nonthreatening place terrifying.
Glen James Brown it must be unbearable for you to live among us common folk. This is the works of a non-human higher-intelligence. I bet no one has ever witnessed Brown blink or go out in the sun. Suspicious.
Glen James Brown it must be unbearable for you to live among us common folk. This is the works of a non-human higher-intelligence. I bet no one has ever witnessed Brown blink or go out in the sun. Suspicious.
September 28, 2025
Pourquoi ai-je dû vraiment lutter pour ne pas lâcher pendant les 200 premières pages (quand même !) ? Alors que je pense être le public de ce genre de roman…
Heureusement, la seconde moitié du roman m’a rattrapée et je suis contente d’être allée jusqu’au bout.
Cela mériterait sûrement une seconde lecture pour prendre le temps de bien cerner tous les liens entre les personnages.
Heureusement, la seconde moitié du roman m’a rattrapée et je suis contente d’être allée jusqu’au bout.
Cela mériterait sûrement une seconde lecture pour prendre le temps de bien cerner tous les liens entre les personnages.
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