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The Fathers
FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF O BROTHER
In a busy maternity ward, first-time father Dan meets Jada, a dad welcoming his fifth – no, sixth? – child into the world. Dan and Jada come from very different both called Glasgow. Dan is a successful TV writer with a townhouse in the West End and a shiny Tesla ready to drive his wife and baby home. Jada is a hustling, small-time criminal who is already planning how to separate Dan from some of the luxuries Jada has never been able to enjoy in his tiny flat in a Brutalist sixties council block.
Both men find that the birth of their sons has fired their ambitions. Dan plans to walk away from his saccharine TV success and finally knuckle down to writing that novel he always felt he had in him. While, for Jada, it’s the opportunity for one last get-rich-quick scheme – ripping off a local airport. When a tragedy occurs, their worlds are brought closer than either could ever have imagined – close enough that it could mean destruction for both of them . . .
In a busy maternity ward, first-time father Dan meets Jada, a dad welcoming his fifth – no, sixth? – child into the world. Dan and Jada come from very different both called Glasgow. Dan is a successful TV writer with a townhouse in the West End and a shiny Tesla ready to drive his wife and baby home. Jada is a hustling, small-time criminal who is already planning how to separate Dan from some of the luxuries Jada has never been able to enjoy in his tiny flat in a Brutalist sixties council block.
Both men find that the birth of their sons has fired their ambitions. Dan plans to walk away from his saccharine TV success and finally knuckle down to writing that novel he always felt he had in him. While, for Jada, it’s the opportunity for one last get-rich-quick scheme – ripping off a local airport. When a tragedy occurs, their worlds are brought closer than either could ever have imagined – close enough that it could mean destruction for both of them . . .
363 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 17, 2025
38 people are currently reading
516 people want to read
About the author
John Niven
30 books871 followersBorn in Irvine, Ayrshire, Niven read English Literature at Glasgow University, graduating in 1991 with First Class honours. For the next ten years, he worked for a variety of record companies, including London Records and Independiente. He left the music industry to write full time in 2002 and published his debut novella Music from Big Pink in 2005 (Continuum Press). The novella was optioned for the screen by CC Films with a script has been written by English playwright Jez Butterworth. Niven's breakthrough novel Kill Your Friends is a satire of the music business, based on his brief career in A&R, during which he passed up the chance to sign Coldplay and Muse. The novel was published by William Heinemann in 2008 and achieved much acclaim, with Word magazine describing it as "possibly the best British Novel since Trainspotting". It has been translated into seven languages and was a bestseller in Britain and Germany. Niven has since published The Amateurs (2009), The Second Coming (2011), Cold Hands (2012) and Straight White Male (2013).
He also writes original screenplays with writing partner Nick Ball, the younger brother of British TV presenter Zoë Ball. His journalistic contributions to newspapers and magazines include a monthly column for Q magazine, entitled "London Kills Me". In 2009 Niven wrote a controversial article for The Independent newspaper where he attacked the media's largely complacent coverage of Michael Jackson's death.
Niven lives in Buckinghamshire with his fiancee and infant daughter. He has a teenage son from a previous marriage.
He also writes original screenplays with writing partner Nick Ball, the younger brother of British TV presenter Zoë Ball. His journalistic contributions to newspapers and magazines include a monthly column for Q magazine, entitled "London Kills Me". In 2009 Niven wrote a controversial article for The Independent newspaper where he attacked the media's largely complacent coverage of Michael Jackson's death.
Niven lives in Buckinghamshire with his fiancee and infant daughter. He has a teenage son from a previous marriage.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
August 12, 2025
Niven has played yet another blinder here! Pitch black humour shot through with moments of suffocating, raw emotion. A perfectly balanced, and astutely observed, study of human nature and the class divide. I especially enjoyed the audiobook. Angus King's narration is next level.
August 6, 2025
Niven always delivers and this is no different. Much less chaotic and violent than his previous books, but there's a tenderness to this one which elevates it. Some perfectly observed scenes about fatherhood which add another layer.
July 31, 2025
This will easily be in my top 10 books of the year. I had high expectations with it being a John Niven book and he delivered. He manages to write such fantastic flawed characters and such moving stories around them.
This didn’t have the whacky charm of The Sunshine Cruise Company or the sex and violence of Kill Your Friends but I liked how the story felt very grounded and real. The characters and the setting just leapt out at me.
I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook although there were a few small blips. Most people should avoid this book though because, although I laughed a lot, the humour is very dark.
This didn’t have the whacky charm of The Sunshine Cruise Company or the sex and violence of Kill Your Friends but I liked how the story felt very grounded and real. The characters and the setting just leapt out at me.
I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook although there were a few small blips. Most people should avoid this book though because, although I laughed a lot, the humour is very dark.
October 27, 2025
The Fathers is darkly comic exploration of fatherhood, class, and modern masculinity, set in modern day Glasgow. It really puts the reader through the mill as it covers grief, loss, fertility, class, inequality, education, parenting, toxic masculinity, and criminality.
For all that, it's also funny and has a real emotional depth.
So business as usual for John Niven but here combined with an emotionally complex and tragic tale.
4/5
For all that, it's also funny and has a real emotional depth.
So business as usual for John Niven but here combined with an emotionally complex and tragic tale.
4/5
September 9, 2025
Not a book for the faint hearted… but I really enjoyed my first John Niven book. In this tale of two Glaswegian dads from opposite ends of the social spectrum, Niven manages to combine humour, darkness and tragedy. His account of Jada and Nicola’s life of crime and drugs is particularly powerful - alarming but at times touching. The descriptions of drug taking are unflinching - this would be an X rated film. I was gripped by the characters - don’t expect to ‘like’ either of the male leads - and the plot. I agree the ending felt a little rushed and too neatly wrapped up but I’m already looking at other Niven titles. I’d recommend the audio book - Angus King’s narration is incredible and I think I enjoined hearing the book in full Glaswegian much more than if I’d read it.
November 5, 2025
This book chewed me up and spat me out and turned my stomach inside out. Credit to the writing and character development for how invested I became in the lives of Dan and Jada - I’m just glad the story didn’t end the way I thought it would ! Gritty and graphic and overall, great.
July 23, 2025
Hilarious, heartbreaking and so fast paced. Highly recommend, even if you think it isn’t a book you’d normally pick up. Brilliant!
September 17, 2025
Loved that it was about men and fatherhood – just take care.
It contains reference to child bereavement and one of the must upsetting scenes I've ever read. That's not to detract from the book, just be warned.
It contains reference to child bereavement and one of the must upsetting scenes I've ever read. That's not to detract from the book, just be warned.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2025
He’s done it yet again. Astoundingly good storytelling, I couldn’t put it down. Every time Niven brings a new book out, it automatically bypasses my backlog of 15-20 others to read, and goes immediately to the top - rightly so.
August 24, 2025
Darkly funny and well written.
November 2, 2025
That was a bloody rollercoaster.
July 28, 2025
I would like to think I understood most of this, but fully admit I do not know any Scottish slang. 🤔 I was not prepared for chapter 18, was mostly fearful of how it might turn out and was delighted with how it actually did turn out.
September 22, 2025
Lazy sub Irvine Welsh characters and an unlikely ending. John Niven is a favourite author of mine, but this is his worst book unfortunately.
November 4, 2025
John Niven’s 2025 novel The Fathers represents a significant evolution in the author’s work, combining the sharp satirical edge of his earlier novels with a deeper exploration of domesticity, tragedy, and grief. This shift is particularly meaningful given Niven’s 2023 memoir O Brother, which chronicled his younger brother’s struggles and eventual suicide. The emotional depth of that non-fiction work clearly informs the intense tragic elements of this novel.
The story functions as both comic melodrama and biting class satire, built around an unlikely friendship between two fortysomething Glasgow men from completely different worlds. Dan is an affluent, anxious professional, while Jada is a volatile, streetwise criminal. Their lives intersect following the births of their sons, events that trigger ambitious changes in both men. Parenthood inspires Dan to abandon his comfortable career for more meaningful work, while it drives Jada toward a desperate scheme for quick money. When tragedy strikes, their worlds collide with potentially destructive consequences for both.
The contrast between Dan and Jada is established immediately at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. Dan, overwhelmed by the wonder and terror of first-time fatherhood, takes nervous breaths outside while Jada simply sneaks a cigarette. This initial scene captures the vast gulf between their realities.
Dan embodies upper-middle-class professional success. As an arts graduate turned TV producer, he’s made his fortune creating *McCallister*, a long-running detective series mixing elements of *Taggart* and *Hamish MacBeth*. His wealth is evident in his Tesla, his mansion with herringbone floors, and his obsession with consuming only environmentally friendly salmon. His path to fatherhood was arduous, requiring five years and six rounds of IVF, making his son Tom’s birth feel miraculous. Dan meticulously childproofs his home and strives for perfect fatherhood. This domestic reality triggers a creative crisis, as he grows bored with his saccharine TV success and plans to kill off his main character to finally write the serious novel he’s always believed was in him.
Jada provides the visceral counterpoint. A petty criminal living hand-to-mouth in a cramped 1960s tower block, he’s meeting his newest son Jayden, his seventh child with girlfriend Nicola. Though he claims to want to be more present than he was for his previous children, this qualification hints at significant past neglect. Unlike Dan’s creative aspirations, Jada’s motivation is purely financial desperation. He eyes Dan’s Rolex and mentally calculates how quickly he could defeat him in a fight. His ambition centers entirely on one last get-rich-quick scheme involving ripping off a local airport. The class contrast is reinforced even in the hospital, where Grace recovers in a private room drinking expensive smoothies while Jada remains confined to public spaces.
This deliberate use of archetypes—Dan as the upper-middle-class professional and Jada as the feckless criminal—establishes rigid social boundaries. While some critics note that the working-class portrayal relies heavily on clichés like gratuitous drug use and feeding junk food to babies, this stereotyping appears intentional. The novel’s emotional power derives from watching these two men, despite representing social extremes, find shared humanity under extreme duress.
Both men’s ambitions develop in parallel, ironically enabled by the fact that their partners, Grace and Nicola, assume most childcare responsibilities. Dan uses this space to draft his serious novel, while Jada executes his criminal plan. Jada’s airport scheme quickly escalates beyond simple theft when he uncovers a dangerous haul: a crate of pistols he plans to sell to a Northern Irish terrorist group. The stakes rocket from financial desperation to organized crime and potential treason.
Against this backdrop of escalating criminality comes the novel’s devastating centerpiece. Dan suffers a shocking disaster that instantly shatters his carefully constructed world. The tragedy serves as the ultimate equalizer, demonstrating that Dan’s privileges—his wealth, stability, and obsessive preparation—offer absolutely no protection from random horror. The plot then executes a dramatic inversion: Dan loses everything, finding himself ejected from his herringbone-floored home and plunged directly into the chaotic, survivalist world Jada already inhabits. His high-minded artistic aspirations become meaningless in the face of grief, forcing him to adopt the only available alternatives: nihilism, self-destruction, and the dangerous quick fixes offered by his unlikely companion.
Following the disaster, Dan undergoes a profound psychological descent. His grief manifests not as quiet sorrow but as reckless self-destruction and moral compromise. He embraces Jada’s life of dodgy deals, sporadic violence, and daytime drinking. The relationship between the two men transforms under this shared stress. What began as a brief, suspicious hospital encounter slowly becomes a genuine comradeship forged in the furnace of shared trauma and escalating criminal enterprise.
The gun-running plot moves forward with Dan, the educated former producer, now fully implicated in Jada’s high-stakes dealings. This forces a moral examination: Dan’s crime is sudden and driven purely by grief, while Jada’s lifetime of criminal activity was born of socioeconomic constraint and the need to provide. The camaraderie that develops suggests their respective moral codes are far more fluid than their class positions implied. Niven uses this criminal partnership to argue that when confronted by profound destabilizing forces—whether trauma or poverty—criminality shifts from moral failing to primal survival reaction.
The Fathers explores contemporary Scottish society through multiple interconnected themes. Class inequality dominates, with Niven’s acid-sharp satire highlighting the pervasive economic disparities that dictate social horizons. The contrast between Dan’s mansion and Jada’s tower block, between environmentally conscious consumption and desperate dealing, illustrates inequality at every level. The narrative arc, which sees the wealthy father thrust into the working-class underworld, demonstrates that economic privilege offers no defense against universal human tragedy.
The novel tackles difficult subjects from a male perspective, particularly fertility struggles and the numbing, dizzying forces unleashed by grief. While the overarching narrative involves high-stakes crime, the story grounds itself in finely observed domestic details rendered with dark humor—like describing brushing a baby’s teeth as trying to draw a mustache on a live eel with a felt-tip pen. The central thesis on fatherhood suggests that while mothers largely bear the childcare load, the arrival of sons universally fires fathers’ ambitions, whether toward creative fulfillment or financial risk.
A central critique revolves around flawed male coping mechanisms, perhaps best captured by a female character’s frustrated observation: “Fucking men… Why do they always think it’s about fixing everything?” For Dan, this impulse initially manifests as meticulous external control through childproofing and career planning. After tragedy, it pivots violently to fixing his emotional state through destructive actions—substance abuse and criminality. For Jada, it means fixing chronic financial instability through high-risk schemes. The novel argues that this masculine drive to use external action—crime, alcohol, grand career moves—serves as an inadequate, often destructive substitute for genuine internal emotional processing.
Niven’s writing in The Fathers is characterized by smart, funny, laser-focused prose that successfully maintains the structure of comic melodrama while shifting between deep tragedy and high-octane criminal conspiracy.
The novel was good and I found it easy to pick up, but the ending delivered a happier resolution than most of the book would suggest. Everything works out in a sense, which makes you wonder why go through it all in the first place. Niven goes to great lengths to make the worlds of the two men collide, building intense drama and exploring the darkest corners of grief and desperation, only to pull back from the full weight of consequences that such a harrowing journey might demand. This tonal shift, while providing closure and perhaps commercial appeal, undermines some of the novel’s more brutal emotional truths, leaving the reader with a resolution that feels somewhat at odds with the unrelenting darkness that preceded it.
The story functions as both comic melodrama and biting class satire, built around an unlikely friendship between two fortysomething Glasgow men from completely different worlds. Dan is an affluent, anxious professional, while Jada is a volatile, streetwise criminal. Their lives intersect following the births of their sons, events that trigger ambitious changes in both men. Parenthood inspires Dan to abandon his comfortable career for more meaningful work, while it drives Jada toward a desperate scheme for quick money. When tragedy strikes, their worlds collide with potentially destructive consequences for both.
The contrast between Dan and Jada is established immediately at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. Dan, overwhelmed by the wonder and terror of first-time fatherhood, takes nervous breaths outside while Jada simply sneaks a cigarette. This initial scene captures the vast gulf between their realities.
Dan embodies upper-middle-class professional success. As an arts graduate turned TV producer, he’s made his fortune creating *McCallister*, a long-running detective series mixing elements of *Taggart* and *Hamish MacBeth*. His wealth is evident in his Tesla, his mansion with herringbone floors, and his obsession with consuming only environmentally friendly salmon. His path to fatherhood was arduous, requiring five years and six rounds of IVF, making his son Tom’s birth feel miraculous. Dan meticulously childproofs his home and strives for perfect fatherhood. This domestic reality triggers a creative crisis, as he grows bored with his saccharine TV success and plans to kill off his main character to finally write the serious novel he’s always believed was in him.
Jada provides the visceral counterpoint. A petty criminal living hand-to-mouth in a cramped 1960s tower block, he’s meeting his newest son Jayden, his seventh child with girlfriend Nicola. Though he claims to want to be more present than he was for his previous children, this qualification hints at significant past neglect. Unlike Dan’s creative aspirations, Jada’s motivation is purely financial desperation. He eyes Dan’s Rolex and mentally calculates how quickly he could defeat him in a fight. His ambition centers entirely on one last get-rich-quick scheme involving ripping off a local airport. The class contrast is reinforced even in the hospital, where Grace recovers in a private room drinking expensive smoothies while Jada remains confined to public spaces.
This deliberate use of archetypes—Dan as the upper-middle-class professional and Jada as the feckless criminal—establishes rigid social boundaries. While some critics note that the working-class portrayal relies heavily on clichés like gratuitous drug use and feeding junk food to babies, this stereotyping appears intentional. The novel’s emotional power derives from watching these two men, despite representing social extremes, find shared humanity under extreme duress.
Both men’s ambitions develop in parallel, ironically enabled by the fact that their partners, Grace and Nicola, assume most childcare responsibilities. Dan uses this space to draft his serious novel, while Jada executes his criminal plan. Jada’s airport scheme quickly escalates beyond simple theft when he uncovers a dangerous haul: a crate of pistols he plans to sell to a Northern Irish terrorist group. The stakes rocket from financial desperation to organized crime and potential treason.
Against this backdrop of escalating criminality comes the novel’s devastating centerpiece. Dan suffers a shocking disaster that instantly shatters his carefully constructed world. The tragedy serves as the ultimate equalizer, demonstrating that Dan’s privileges—his wealth, stability, and obsessive preparation—offer absolutely no protection from random horror. The plot then executes a dramatic inversion: Dan loses everything, finding himself ejected from his herringbone-floored home and plunged directly into the chaotic, survivalist world Jada already inhabits. His high-minded artistic aspirations become meaningless in the face of grief, forcing him to adopt the only available alternatives: nihilism, self-destruction, and the dangerous quick fixes offered by his unlikely companion.
Following the disaster, Dan undergoes a profound psychological descent. His grief manifests not as quiet sorrow but as reckless self-destruction and moral compromise. He embraces Jada’s life of dodgy deals, sporadic violence, and daytime drinking. The relationship between the two men transforms under this shared stress. What began as a brief, suspicious hospital encounter slowly becomes a genuine comradeship forged in the furnace of shared trauma and escalating criminal enterprise.
The gun-running plot moves forward with Dan, the educated former producer, now fully implicated in Jada’s high-stakes dealings. This forces a moral examination: Dan’s crime is sudden and driven purely by grief, while Jada’s lifetime of criminal activity was born of socioeconomic constraint and the need to provide. The camaraderie that develops suggests their respective moral codes are far more fluid than their class positions implied. Niven uses this criminal partnership to argue that when confronted by profound destabilizing forces—whether trauma or poverty—criminality shifts from moral failing to primal survival reaction.
The Fathers explores contemporary Scottish society through multiple interconnected themes. Class inequality dominates, with Niven’s acid-sharp satire highlighting the pervasive economic disparities that dictate social horizons. The contrast between Dan’s mansion and Jada’s tower block, between environmentally conscious consumption and desperate dealing, illustrates inequality at every level. The narrative arc, which sees the wealthy father thrust into the working-class underworld, demonstrates that economic privilege offers no defense against universal human tragedy.
The novel tackles difficult subjects from a male perspective, particularly fertility struggles and the numbing, dizzying forces unleashed by grief. While the overarching narrative involves high-stakes crime, the story grounds itself in finely observed domestic details rendered with dark humor—like describing brushing a baby’s teeth as trying to draw a mustache on a live eel with a felt-tip pen. The central thesis on fatherhood suggests that while mothers largely bear the childcare load, the arrival of sons universally fires fathers’ ambitions, whether toward creative fulfillment or financial risk.
A central critique revolves around flawed male coping mechanisms, perhaps best captured by a female character’s frustrated observation: “Fucking men… Why do they always think it’s about fixing everything?” For Dan, this impulse initially manifests as meticulous external control through childproofing and career planning. After tragedy, it pivots violently to fixing his emotional state through destructive actions—substance abuse and criminality. For Jada, it means fixing chronic financial instability through high-risk schemes. The novel argues that this masculine drive to use external action—crime, alcohol, grand career moves—serves as an inadequate, often destructive substitute for genuine internal emotional processing.
Niven’s writing in The Fathers is characterized by smart, funny, laser-focused prose that successfully maintains the structure of comic melodrama while shifting between deep tragedy and high-octane criminal conspiracy.
The novel was good and I found it easy to pick up, but the ending delivered a happier resolution than most of the book would suggest. Everything works out in a sense, which makes you wonder why go through it all in the first place. Niven goes to great lengths to make the worlds of the two men collide, building intense drama and exploring the darkest corners of grief and desperation, only to pull back from the full weight of consequences that such a harrowing journey might demand. This tonal shift, while providing closure and perhaps commercial appeal, undermines some of the novel’s more brutal emotional truths, leaving the reader with a resolution that feels somewhat at odds with the unrelenting darkness that preceded it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2025
I’ve always enjoyed John Niven’s books, and The Fathers is absolutely up there with my favourite of his. The balance of black humour with such empathy and raw emotion is next level — both touching, heartbreaking and hilarious.
The two main characters, Jada and Dan, will live with me for a long while. With a friendship — that isn’t perhaps a friendship beyond circumstance — which is as troubled as it is unlikely, the Venn world where they meet is a raucous minefield, and certainly no place for raising kids. The circumstances that lead them there are horrific; and where it leads to after that . . . well, that’s life; that’s parenthood.
Compassionate and caustic, bless the world of John Niven’s characters, and the journeys they take us on. Brilliant. Loved it.
The two main characters, Jada and Dan, will live with me for a long while. With a friendship — that isn’t perhaps a friendship beyond circumstance — which is as troubled as it is unlikely, the Venn world where they meet is a raucous minefield, and certainly no place for raising kids. The circumstances that lead them there are horrific; and where it leads to after that . . . well, that’s life; that’s parenthood.
Compassionate and caustic, bless the world of John Niven’s characters, and the journeys they take us on. Brilliant. Loved it.
June 11, 2025
‘The Fathers’ is strong stuff. Wealthy, educated and older first-time father, Dan, meets world-weary, small-time wheeler dealer/crook/violent thug, Jada, at a Glasgow maternity unit after the births of their sons, Tom and Cayden/Jayden. Father of five whom he rarely sees, Jada vows that he will be more present for his latest progeny, never mind the impossibility of being a positive influence on the boy’s life. In contrast, Dan is determined his son will never doubt his devotion nor want for anything.
Months pass and then the unthinkable happens. Bizarrely Dan and Jada’s paths cross again and the men grow increasingly dependent on each other. How and why?
I found Jada’s character really tedious for the first third of this story. Maybe that’s what the author is aiming for, showing us just how grim it is to live like him. However, it’s worth persevering with the narrative – the depiction of the central characters grows increasingly complex and nuanced. John Niven takes a terrible, nightmarish situation and explores its effect on the men and their families to the extent that it’s possible no one will survive. A thought-provoking, fearless look at privilege and poverty and whether or not the gap can ever be bridged.
My thanks to NetGalley and Canongate Books for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.
Months pass and then the unthinkable happens. Bizarrely Dan and Jada’s paths cross again and the men grow increasingly dependent on each other. How and why?
I found Jada’s character really tedious for the first third of this story. Maybe that’s what the author is aiming for, showing us just how grim it is to live like him. However, it’s worth persevering with the narrative – the depiction of the central characters grows increasingly complex and nuanced. John Niven takes a terrible, nightmarish situation and explores its effect on the men and their families to the extent that it’s possible no one will survive. A thought-provoking, fearless look at privilege and poverty and whether or not the gap can ever be bridged.
My thanks to NetGalley and Canongate Books for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.
April 30, 2025
I loved this book from start to finish and found it very unputdownable. I love John Nivens writing style, it makes you really get a feeling of being in character. Would recommend for all fans of Irvine Welsh.
We follow the lives of Dan and Jada who meet outside the hospital on the day that both of their sons are born. Dan is a well to do upper class man and Jada is a roughian who’s constantly wheeling and dealing to get by. After their first meeting at the hospital they end up bumping into each other more frequently and become and unlikely pair of companions.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
We follow the lives of Dan and Jada who meet outside the hospital on the day that both of their sons are born. Dan is a well to do upper class man and Jada is a roughian who’s constantly wheeling and dealing to get by. After their first meeting at the hospital they end up bumping into each other more frequently and become and unlikely pair of companions.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
June 14, 2025
3.5⭐️ Another hard hitting and twisted slice of life from John Niven. This time set in Glasgow with our two main characters coming from polar opposites, socially and economically. Dan is a TV writer and executive who is about to become a father for the first time after many rounds of IVF. Jana is low level grifter and thug who is about to become a father for the 6th time, although it's his much younger partners first time. The two men meet by chance at the hospital, and their lives became unexpectedly entwined.
This is not a light read, there are a lot of upsetting events and some extremely dark humour.
This is not a light read, there are a lot of upsetting events and some extremely dark humour.
August 28, 2025
Another superb book by Mr Niven. I expected nothing less.
Dan - middle class, middle age - has struggled to start a family with his younger wife, Grace. He is the writer for a long running TV Detective (think Morse, in Scotland) but feels hemmed in by his creation. Eventually, after several rounds of IVF, they conceive.
On the day that the baby is born, he meets Jada. The opposite end of the scale. Working class, if you count robbery and bursts of violence as working. He too has a son born on the same day, but unlike Dan, he is feckless, has half a dozen other kids that he does not keep in touch with and a partner who is barely out of childhood herself.
Niven (and the reader) has a lot of fun with the juxtaposition, as the families meet occasionally, and the upbringing of the two kids is shown in stark contrast. Dan goes for full on protection, putting child locks on every cupboard. Jada feeds his kids Irn Bru as soon as they are on the bottle.
It's brilliant stuff - and sometimes quite profound. Dan ruminating on how only the very rich and very poor are the only members of society that are truly free, as the middle class are constantly worrying. Dan again, on a three page monologue of the modern generation that rebel against authority/parents by being non-binary or identifying as cats.
We now get onto the point of the few where I cannot say too much, as I dont want to give spoilers. Jada's and Dan's worlds get much closer after a shift in gears following the humour and some of the saddest/heartbreaking writing I have ever read.
I couldnt devour this book quick enough, as I thundered through the fast paced book. It was setup for a stunning finale that only Niven could think of pulling off. Yet, it didnt quite work and strangely, as little bit happily ever after for the tone of the book. I will have to do some research to see if there are any clues as to why the ending was structured so.
One of the most interesting, funny, thought provoking and thrilling books you could hope to read.
Dan - middle class, middle age - has struggled to start a family with his younger wife, Grace. He is the writer for a long running TV Detective (think Morse, in Scotland) but feels hemmed in by his creation. Eventually, after several rounds of IVF, they conceive.
On the day that the baby is born, he meets Jada. The opposite end of the scale. Working class, if you count robbery and bursts of violence as working. He too has a son born on the same day, but unlike Dan, he is feckless, has half a dozen other kids that he does not keep in touch with and a partner who is barely out of childhood herself.
Niven (and the reader) has a lot of fun with the juxtaposition, as the families meet occasionally, and the upbringing of the two kids is shown in stark contrast. Dan goes for full on protection, putting child locks on every cupboard. Jada feeds his kids Irn Bru as soon as they are on the bottle.
It's brilliant stuff - and sometimes quite profound. Dan ruminating on how only the very rich and very poor are the only members of society that are truly free, as the middle class are constantly worrying. Dan again, on a three page monologue of the modern generation that rebel against authority/parents by being non-binary or identifying as cats.
We now get onto the point of the few where I cannot say too much, as I dont want to give spoilers. Jada's and Dan's worlds get much closer after a shift in gears following the humour and some of the saddest/heartbreaking writing I have ever read.
I couldnt devour this book quick enough, as I thundered through the fast paced book. It was setup for a stunning finale that only Niven could think of pulling off. Yet, it didnt quite work and strangely, as little bit happily ever after for the tone of the book. I will have to do some research to see if there are any clues as to why the ending was structured so.
One of the most interesting, funny, thought provoking and thrilling books you could hope to read.
July 15, 2025
I have only just recently discovered this author and. as well as pouncing on all his latest releases, I am playing catch-up with his back catalogue.
In this book we meet Dan and Jada as they meet each other at the hospital, both having just become fathers. Dan for the first time and Jada for the 5th or 6th - that he knows of. From that, you might guess that they are chalk and cheese, Dan being a successful TV writer and Jada being a bit of a wrong-un. But from this initial meeting comes some sort of bond where they will periodically keep bumping into each other, until Dan and Jada's lives become more and more intertwined, and more and more destructive...
This is a strange book. One which does escalate, but which does it slowly, if that makes sense. It was also one that I was pretty sure I knew where we would end up and, yup, completely wrong there too! But that doesn't really matter as I had an absolute blast all the way through! But, that said, it's also quite tragic in places. It's hard hitting and pulls no punches. It's raw and horrific. And, all the time, so very very real. But, at the same time, it is peppered throughout with some wonderful humour which does keep the book on an even keel and prevents it from becoming too dark. We also have some great observational humour included too.
I'm not going to lie, I did initially struggle a wee bit with the Glaswegian dialect initially but, and it's been the same for previous books, once I got into the swing, it began to flow again. I also found the ending to be a tad on the saccharine side but I can easily forgive the author based on what had come before.
All in all, a cracking addition to an already well impressive back catalogue. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
In this book we meet Dan and Jada as they meet each other at the hospital, both having just become fathers. Dan for the first time and Jada for the 5th or 6th - that he knows of. From that, you might guess that they are chalk and cheese, Dan being a successful TV writer and Jada being a bit of a wrong-un. But from this initial meeting comes some sort of bond where they will periodically keep bumping into each other, until Dan and Jada's lives become more and more intertwined, and more and more destructive...
This is a strange book. One which does escalate, but which does it slowly, if that makes sense. It was also one that I was pretty sure I knew where we would end up and, yup, completely wrong there too! But that doesn't really matter as I had an absolute blast all the way through! But, that said, it's also quite tragic in places. It's hard hitting and pulls no punches. It's raw and horrific. And, all the time, so very very real. But, at the same time, it is peppered throughout with some wonderful humour which does keep the book on an even keel and prevents it from becoming too dark. We also have some great observational humour included too.
I'm not going to lie, I did initially struggle a wee bit with the Glaswegian dialect initially but, and it's been the same for previous books, once I got into the swing, it began to flow again. I also found the ending to be a tad on the saccharine side but I can easily forgive the author based on what had come before.
All in all, a cracking addition to an already well impressive back catalogue. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
July 31, 2025
I think that this book is worth reading all of the way to the end. Not that there aren’t enough funny moments to keep you turning the pages. I found it quite an easy read.
There were moments where I felt that the kitchen sink realism were shoehorned in and where I thought that the writer might have been trying a little too hard to create a contrast between “middle class” Dan and “Underclass” Jada. However, this trope wasn’t really what the book was about. Towards the end, the shared humanity of the two main characters was apparent.
I thought that some of the insights into the criminal underworld were quite revealing. The book did show how “ordinary” relatable people can get caught up in sticky situations. The way that the criminal elements in the book were written about was fairly convincing. The way that the book dealt with issues such as drug abuse and organised crime was quite intriguing and convincing.
The book was far from moralistic and some of it seemed to have been written as a vehicle for the author’s humour. It didn’t seem to matter whether “good” prevailed over “evil”. I think that all of the characters were relatable enough to resist this kind of dichotomous evaluation.
Ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised by the book. I was wary that this might be another attempt to reframe the trope of social class. However, ultimately the book shows how a city such as Glasgow can bring people together as much as it can divide them through privilege and inequality.
There were moments where I felt that the kitchen sink realism were shoehorned in and where I thought that the writer might have been trying a little too hard to create a contrast between “middle class” Dan and “Underclass” Jada. However, this trope wasn’t really what the book was about. Towards the end, the shared humanity of the two main characters was apparent.
I thought that some of the insights into the criminal underworld were quite revealing. The book did show how “ordinary” relatable people can get caught up in sticky situations. The way that the criminal elements in the book were written about was fairly convincing. The way that the book dealt with issues such as drug abuse and organised crime was quite intriguing and convincing.
The book was far from moralistic and some of it seemed to have been written as a vehicle for the author’s humour. It didn’t seem to matter whether “good” prevailed over “evil”. I think that all of the characters were relatable enough to resist this kind of dichotomous evaluation.
Ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised by the book. I was wary that this might be another attempt to reframe the trope of social class. However, ultimately the book shows how a city such as Glasgow can bring people together as much as it can divide them through privilege and inequality.
September 3, 2025
A robust novel on grief and love
—
This robust novel asks: in the extremities of grief and love, what will you do? Dan and Jada meet at a hospital in Glasgow, both older men about to become fathers, Dan for the first time after multiple rounds of IVF, and Jada for the sixth time with a sixth woman. Dan’s a successful TV producer; Jada’s a chancer with one foot on the wrong side of the law. When tragedy strikes and the two men are thrown together again, Jada sees Dan as a mark, and Dan vice versa, and as things unroll to their unimaginable conclusion, Dan and Jada will answer the question that Niven poses.
This is a novel of hard contrasts, between Dan’s life of middle class opulence and Jada’s hard scrabble existence, between the ease of Jada’s day to day and Dan’s hostage to legacy, Dan and his wife suffering through IVF and Jada and Nicola, mother of his youngest child: it is a book of extremes and they keep piling up, the violence and criminality of Jada’s ‘business’ dealings ramping up even as Dan’s tv production world gently descends towards chaos. Clever stuff, and a lot of really great writing that makes a clean distinction between the two worlds and the car crash of the two men’s friendship. Like any great novel, the worst is yet to come, and when it does, the choices that are made are the right ones for everyone.
Easily four stars
—
This robust novel asks: in the extremities of grief and love, what will you do? Dan and Jada meet at a hospital in Glasgow, both older men about to become fathers, Dan for the first time after multiple rounds of IVF, and Jada for the sixth time with a sixth woman. Dan’s a successful TV producer; Jada’s a chancer with one foot on the wrong side of the law. When tragedy strikes and the two men are thrown together again, Jada sees Dan as a mark, and Dan vice versa, and as things unroll to their unimaginable conclusion, Dan and Jada will answer the question that Niven poses.
This is a novel of hard contrasts, between Dan’s life of middle class opulence and Jada’s hard scrabble existence, between the ease of Jada’s day to day and Dan’s hostage to legacy, Dan and his wife suffering through IVF and Jada and Nicola, mother of his youngest child: it is a book of extremes and they keep piling up, the violence and criminality of Jada’s ‘business’ dealings ramping up even as Dan’s tv production world gently descends towards chaos. Clever stuff, and a lot of really great writing that makes a clean distinction between the two worlds and the car crash of the two men’s friendship. Like any great novel, the worst is yet to come, and when it does, the choices that are made are the right ones for everyone.
Easily four stars
June 25, 2025
Well this was a surprise! I chose it because it was set in Glasgow. I think it accurately depicts the opposite sides of society in the city. Two new fathers meet on the day that their children are born. Totally different in background and yet they are somehow destined to be linked. One has everything he desires , now that he has his son. The other has nothing except a drug and criminal background. I liked the descriptions of their lives, how they each accepted their own lives as ‘normal’ and the other’s as anything but! There is a lot of Glaswegian dialect ( which I enjoyed translating from my childhood memories) but it doesn’t get in the way of- it adds to the scene setting of Jada’s world.
I thought the ending was slightly rushed and a bit ‘tidied up’ but it brought things to a conclusion.
I will watch out for more y this author.
I thought the ending was slightly rushed and a bit ‘tidied up’ but it brought things to a conclusion.
I will watch out for more y this author.
October 14, 2025
4.5
Another cracking novel from John Niven. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook of The Fathers.
In a hospital in Glasgow, two baby boys are born on the same day. The 2 fathers meet outside during by chance and they have no idea that their lives will become intertwined.
The 2 fathers represent 2 very different walks of life; on one hand we have Dan who works hard, lives in a nice house and drives a nice car. The birth of his son is a long overdue and longed for moment after years of infertility troubles.
On the other hand we have Jada who is on his sixth baby and sixth baby mama. He resorts to petty crime to make ends meet and doesn’t seem interested in being a hands on dad.
This was a fab read. Definitely one I’d recommend.
Another cracking novel from John Niven. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook of The Fathers.
In a hospital in Glasgow, two baby boys are born on the same day. The 2 fathers meet outside during by chance and they have no idea that their lives will become intertwined.
The 2 fathers represent 2 very different walks of life; on one hand we have Dan who works hard, lives in a nice house and drives a nice car. The birth of his son is a long overdue and longed for moment after years of infertility troubles.
On the other hand we have Jada who is on his sixth baby and sixth baby mama. He resorts to petty crime to make ends meet and doesn’t seem interested in being a hands on dad.
This was a fab read. Definitely one I’d recommend.
August 3, 2025
John Niven knows how to skewer people. In The Fathers, two men from very different backgrounds meet at the hospital on the day their sons are born. Dan puts both the Bourge and the Oisie in bourgeoisie, and Jada puts the Buck and the Fast in the criminal underclass. Neither escape Niven's blade of sharp satire, as he draws blood with every telling detail of their lives, hangouts, shopping habits, and their differing approaches to health and safety. Drama, and melodrama, of course ensues, and it's blackly comic, sometimes bleak, but it does have an emotional heart. A dark one, but it's there. If the ending stretches credulity, so what?
September 6, 2025
Two very different worlds collide, but we see that underneath it all we're not as different as we might think.
The central friendship blooms against the odds; it's not just that Dan and Jada come from different worlds, but also that they betray one another (shaky foundations for a friendship, even if these betrayals don't come to light).
It's a book of opposites: laugh out loud funny and heartbreak that physically jolted me, desperately bleak and sweetly hopeful, the highest of privilege and the depths of poverty.
The storytelling was powerful; a week on and I can still recall all of the characters as if they're people I know personally. The characters are unapologetically written; you might not use the words they choose or agree with the decisions they make, but it's refreshing there's no attempt to 'cleanse' or justify their words or actions as this would water down the reading experience.
I loved my lesson in Scottish slang and joked while reading this that I'll need to try and work the new words and phrases I've learnt into conversation. Like this one... 😂
"Fucking nibbles? Tell the cunts tae nibble ma fucken baws. Jist get a few fucking bags o' crisps or whatever."
The central friendship blooms against the odds; it's not just that Dan and Jada come from different worlds, but also that they betray one another (shaky foundations for a friendship, even if these betrayals don't come to light).
It's a book of opposites: laugh out loud funny and heartbreak that physically jolted me, desperately bleak and sweetly hopeful, the highest of privilege and the depths of poverty.
The storytelling was powerful; a week on and I can still recall all of the characters as if they're people I know personally. The characters are unapologetically written; you might not use the words they choose or agree with the decisions they make, but it's refreshing there's no attempt to 'cleanse' or justify their words or actions as this would water down the reading experience.
I loved my lesson in Scottish slang and joked while reading this that I'll need to try and work the new words and phrases I've learnt into conversation. Like this one... 😂
"Fucking nibbles? Tell the cunts tae nibble ma fucken baws. Jist get a few fucking bags o' crisps or whatever."
September 3, 2025
Thank you to Canongate Books and Netgalley for the review copy.
I loved The Fathers! John Niven delivers his trademark dark humour and sharp writing, creating a story that’s both funny and deeply moving. It follows Dan, a TV writer, and Jada, a small-time criminal, who meet in a Glasgow maternity ward on the day their sons are born.
The novel brilliantly explores fatherhood, grief, and how lives unexpectedly intertwine. The emotional core is powerful, and Niven balances intense drama with moments of biting comedy. His characters feel vivid, and the story kept me hooked from start to finish.
A gripping, heartfelt read—perfect for fans of Niven’s unique style.
I loved The Fathers! John Niven delivers his trademark dark humour and sharp writing, creating a story that’s both funny and deeply moving. It follows Dan, a TV writer, and Jada, a small-time criminal, who meet in a Glasgow maternity ward on the day their sons are born.
The novel brilliantly explores fatherhood, grief, and how lives unexpectedly intertwine. The emotional core is powerful, and Niven balances intense drama with moments of biting comedy. His characters feel vivid, and the story kept me hooked from start to finish.
A gripping, heartfelt read—perfect for fans of Niven’s unique style.
November 24, 2025
The first John Niven novel I have read and I was impressed.
As with any urban area, Glasgow is home to a wide social mix - often living in close proximity to one another and this novel illustrates this very well. I particularly liked how he managed to twist the plot around our expectations of the life-chances of a middle-class child and one coming from a deprived background. His descriptions of Glasgow were accurate and the illustration of criminal hierarchy illuminating. I also enjoyed his acronym for the Belfast loyalist group.
My only disappointment was around the ending. I thought that the 'happy ever after' conclusion stretched the reader's credibility and undermined what, up until then, had been a credible and compelling novel.
As with any urban area, Glasgow is home to a wide social mix - often living in close proximity to one another and this novel illustrates this very well. I particularly liked how he managed to twist the plot around our expectations of the life-chances of a middle-class child and one coming from a deprived background. His descriptions of Glasgow were accurate and the illustration of criminal hierarchy illuminating. I also enjoyed his acronym for the Belfast loyalist group.
My only disappointment was around the ending. I thought that the 'happy ever after' conclusion stretched the reader's credibility and undermined what, up until then, had been a credible and compelling novel.
July 21, 2025
Thank you to John Niven, Canongate Books, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Fathers follows Dan and Jada, two men who meet outside a hospital the day their partners birth sons. Drastically different, their lives begin to intertwine inexplicably.
Jada can seem quite repetitive, tedious, and shallow in the beginning but he soon becomes more complex and nuanced as the story progresses. Dan was fantastic and each of the other characters also felt brilliantly unique.
A darkly comedic and tragic tale, Niven shows his sharp writing once again.
The Fathers follows Dan and Jada, two men who meet outside a hospital the day their partners birth sons. Drastically different, their lives begin to intertwine inexplicably.
Jada can seem quite repetitive, tedious, and shallow in the beginning but he soon becomes more complex and nuanced as the story progresses. Dan was fantastic and each of the other characters also felt brilliantly unique.
A darkly comedic and tragic tale, Niven shows his sharp writing once again.
November 9, 2025
Interesting that this book has such great reviews. I swear a lot, or so I thought, but the language was pretty full on, and distracted me. I also found the narration a bit odd because of some of the accents.
That aside, I liked the concept of the book, and how little the two families understood of each other's lives. A lot of the story was well conceived, and the way different characters dealt with their circumstances and experiences was well described.
That said, the whole grape thing struck me as unlikely. And the ending was a let down.
That aside, I liked the concept of the book, and how little the two families understood of each other's lives. A lot of the story was well conceived, and the way different characters dealt with their circumstances and experiences was well described.
That said, the whole grape thing struck me as unlikely. And the ending was a let down.
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