Pony Boy

by Bill Naughton

Set in the early thirties, this excellent story for boys comes from an author who is better-known as a playwright and deals with the escapades of Corky and Ginger, two of the scores of Pony Boys employed to deliver light loads - a common sight in City streets in those days. In the later chapters the urge takes the boys to see the world and they head for Liverpool with the idea of getting jobs on a trawler. Written with humour and understanding, the book is authentic but never old fashioned.

Genres: Historical Fiction

220 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 28, 2011

About the author

William John Francis Naughton (1910-1992) was a popular ‘working class’ author and playwright who was born in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland in June 1910 and died in early January 1992 in Ballasalla, Isle of Man. He was four years old when his family moved to Bolton, Lancashire, where, after leaving school around 1924, he worked as a weaver, coal-bagger and lorry-driver, enjoying a variety of experience and knowledge before starting to write with a rare honesty and perception about ‘ordinary’ people. Although ‘Alfie’ is the play with which he will always be associated, mostly because of the film starring Michael Caine, he was a prolific writer of quality work which included such notable plays as ‘My Flesh My Blood’, ‘All In Good Time’; plus novels, short stories and children’s books. Two other plays were made into films –‘Spring and Port Wine’, with James Mason as Rafe Crompton, and ‘The Family Way’, which starred John Mills. His work also included ‘One Small Boy’, ‘A Roof Over Your Head’, and short story collections such as ‘Late Night on Watling Street’ ‘The Bees Have Stopped Working’, and ‘The Goalkeeper's Revenge’. Among his most popular autobiographical works, well worth seeking out, are ‘On The Pig’s Back’ and ‘Saintly Billy’.

Reviews

[Rosy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could not recover the magic that made me remember the title and author of this book for so many, many years, but I am very happy to have finally found it. I'm not sure how old I was when I read it as a child, but I loved it immensely--it was one of those books that launched me into loving reading and books.