1983

by Tom Cox

Benji is an imaginative eight-year-old boy, living with his parents in a mining village in Nottinghamshire amidst the spoil heaps and chip shops that characterise the last industrially bruised outposts of the Midlands, just before Northern England begins. His family are the eccentric neighbours on a street where all the houses are set on a tilt, slowly subsiding into the excavated space below. Told through Benji's voice and a colourful variety of others over a deeply joyful and strange twelve-month period, it's a story about growing up, the oddness beneath the everyday, what we once believed the future would be, and those times in life when anything seems possible.

1983 is steeped in the distinctive character of a setting far weirder than it might at first from robots living next door, and a school caretaker who is not all he seems, to missing memories and the aliens Benji is certain are trying to abduct him.

Genres: Fiction

299 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 19, 2025

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am sorry to say that this book just didn't work for me. It may well work for other people, but I was clearly not a good fit for this book.

My first qualm with this book: it is clearly a fictionalized account of the author's own childhood. I would have appreciated more fiction, and not a regurgitation of the author's own life. Adding in some bits of surrealism (not giving spoilers) doesn't help with this - it's like the author wanted to do something imaginative and got partway there, but then it was too much effort and they modeled half/most of the characters on a bunch of real life people and copy pasted them into the story. It was done in a way that made the book feel flat, and not a richly imagined world. I am also sorry to say that the photographs in the book made this even worse for me. I'd prefer illustrations, as the photographs made the blurred lines between fiction and the author's real life even more badly done.

I'm also not one to usually complain about "telling and not showing" but this book felt like it was all telling. There was a lot of rambling in the narrators mind, in a very scattered way. This sketchy narration was not especially artfully done (like eccentric narrators in say, Dostoevsky or Olga Tokarczuk) but just felt... lazy. It was confusing, and I normally like books that are a bit disorienting and confusing but this seemed liked it needed more edits to thread the narrative together.

Finally, the writing felt like it was trying too hard. The sentences felt like they were trying to be clever, but they simply weren't:

"The road was called Stringy Lane, which in my head always seemed a good fit. It had a fibrous sort of quality, stretching out like an umbilical cord from the main body of our village, Tapley Woodhouse, connecting it to a couple of farms, a dozen or so
houses, the colliery up the hill, and, finally, Petalford, a neighbouring village which sounded significantly more fragile than it was, being generally perceived as Tapley Woodhouse's roughneck younger brother."

Are umbilical cords particularly fibrous? What is the umbilical quality of the street? The figurative language does not work. The author frequently writes as if the longer and more convoluted a sentence is, the better it is. I'm not normally put off by long sentences, as I enjoy plenty of older and newer works that do this effectively. But Mr Cox's sentences are often convoluted with no payoff, and attempts at figurative language are ill-conceived and frustrating

If none of the above bothers you, this might be for you. I found myself irritated while reading this, and this was a waste of time and money. A shame, because I really was looking for something weird and warm-hearted as other reviews described it. Instead I found this to be poorly developed but with pointlessly overwritten sentences.

I think Mr. Cox has quite a devoted following from his Substack and from his social media presence in years before. His fans there will probably really enjoy this, as it's similar in tone to some of what he writes there. These readers probably enjoy the quirks that annoyed me as they are signature parts of "Tom Cox" writing. So maybe I should end this by saying: read some articles on the author's Substack. If you enjoy that, you will probably enjoy this book. If you aren't charmed by his writing there, this might not be for you. I'm sorry that I seem to be too much of a cynical old hag for this one.

[Catherine Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been struggling to read anything for most of this year. Starting to read many books only to get fed up after a few pages and thinking 'What's the point?' But I started reading this book and kept reading it and finished it. There are some wonderful lines and passages in it that I want to remember and read again at some point. It's an evocation of a wonderful (quite literally a wonder full) childhood that ends beautifully. I had some niggles at times - like why can't it just be in Benji's voice? But if it had been that way, and not the way it was, would it have actually been better? What is a colourful patchwork quilt made by a grandmother might have become a grey, mass-produced duvet.

[Alex Sarll]

In his newsletter, Tom Cox recently described the genre of his last few books as 'Me', by which obviously he meant 'Tom Cox' - but there were times here, especially early on, when I felt he could almost have been talking about the genre of 'Me' meaning 'Alex Sarll'. Sure, I'm a couple of years younger than him, and grew up a few miles away, but this is absolutely the childhood I remember, climbing frames and cousins, Fighting Fantasy books overlaying a strangeness on self-directed wanderings, Nottingham polarised between the Victoria Centre and its perpetual poor relation the Broadmarsh. I'm sure it still makes sense even if you've never heard the word 'nesh' before, or experienced the sketchiness of the Savoy cinema (the last place I remember filmgoers smoking, 1994); whether it would still land the same way, I couldn't tell you. Though I suppose there have been other books recently which felt like the authors trying to fix their childhoods in amber, a hedge against their own passings and the world's, and while my boyhood was certainly less like Alan Moore's or Robyn Hitchcock's than Cox's, I loved those books too. Besides, truth be told, 1983 didn't all land the same way for me. I was so taken with child Cox alter ego Benji that whenever other narrators took the baton, it was a bit of a drop, and while that drop was mild when it was parents, cousins or teachers filling out the story, I was less convinced by the voices of the neighbourhood thug, the daffodils, or (spoiler, possibly?) the aliens. And this despite being someone who, as a rule, much prefers books about aliens, or narrated by plants, to gentle period pieces about not quite bohemian upbringings, and despite the alien sections being the ones which make most manifest the beautiful and not implausible notion of a particular flavour of loving but no-nonsense East Midlands matriarchy saving the world(s).

(Netgalley ARC)

[Rob Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. It felt a bit like Kurt Vonneghut writing Black Swan Green. Really good in parts, albeit it felt it lost its way a little in the second half, but for all that I enjoyed it. Not quite as top notch as Villager, but an enjoyable surreal wallow in 1980s nottinghamshire mining country

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the end of the day, when the shops closed, the city felt like the bottom of a glass that too many people had been drinking from. [loc. 1830]

Set in a village on the outskirts of Nottingham ('the UK city where you're statistically most likely to be assaulted by a stranger') in the early Eighties, this is the story of Benji, an only child aged seven, who spends his time playing with the ZX Spectrum at school, building a nuclear fallout shelter in the woods, listening to The Teardrop Explodes and waiting for the aliens to come and return him to his home planet. (He glimpsed the aliens, which can shapeshift, during a hospital stay some years earlier.) 

Benji's parents are outsiders in the village, due to their Penguin paperbacks and modern jazz records, despite his dad having been born less than ten miles away. Benji, though he has plenty of friends and is happy at school, is a bit of an outsider too. He is aware of, though doesn't understand, the sense of social change and industrial decay, the rise of Thatcherism and the rage of the underclass.

But that's an undercurrent, considerably less foregrounded than the crew of shapeshifting aliens from the planet Vozkoz, who need to abduct a particular human whose essence is the only thing that can save their world. Another plot thread involves neighbour Colin, who builds robots out of scrap and whom Benji is convinced (after research conducted with the library's microfiche archive) is actually Bruce Lacey, as featured in the Fairport Convention song 'Mr Lacey'. (You can hear the robots at around the 2-minute mark in that video.)

Intercut with Benji's narrative are various uncaptioned photographs, and diverse other voices: Benji's parents, a headmistress, Benji's cousin, an alpaca, Colin, a drunken fuckwit, some daffodils... All contribute something to the story, though it's Benji's voice, and the events of that one year, that pull it all together. I enjoyed it immensely and nostalgically, and I loved Cox's inventiveness and the discursive winding of the story. The fantastical elements were (mostly*) cleverly woven in and, frankly, made just as much more sense as nuclear war or Margaret Thatcher. And there's a strong sense of affection blooming through the novel: a love of life with all its imperfections.

*I don't believe you could buy six blank cassettes for 49p in 1983, even in Nottinghamshire.

[tash · Rating 4 out of 5]

thank you to netgalley and unbound for providing me with this arc of tom cox’s 1983!

i really enjoyed this! there were a few chapters in this book, such as the chapters by the daisies, that i felt didn’t add anything to the story, but overall it was a really good read and i recommend reading it when it comes out later on in the year

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’ve followed Tom Cox on social media or his blog, he is very good at photography, and pairing photographs with his words. In 1983, he presents a year in the life of Benji, as told through him and some of the other people that have been in his life. Benji’s portions feel almost like a stream of consciousness style that is a bit difficult for me to keep focus on and track the changes in the Points of View and time. Cox uses the photographs from his collection help to bring the characters and the Nottingham of Benji’s childhood to life.

(Netgalley ARC)

[Catalina · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Weirdo' was a word I heard frequently, which I took to mean 'possessing imagination and curiosity and a resistance to being force-fed culture by capitalism'[...] (I would replace capitalism with society for it to be 100% accurate :D)

1983 is a tender portrait of a childhood at the turn of the '80s in Nottinghamshire. I guess, depending on age, many readers will find themselves in Benji's voice and recollections of his childhood! I am not one of those, as I was born in 1983, and in a different country too. But that did not stop me enjoying the tongue in cheek humour that Cox favours. Benji's voice seemed to me rather accurate for an 8 year old, especially for one with a wild imagination and a thirst for learning. Benji really made this narrative for me. It glued together all the other voices, making 1983 a vibrant novel. As for format, it reminded me of Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. In my view, 1093 is build in the same manner, with a more prominent voice when it comes to Benji, and also a more fluid narrative, seen that it is in fact a novel rather than a collection of short stories. Also, Cox adds some interesting characters, so to speak, which was a bit surprising. But I'd say it works, because it's what one would expect for a child like Benji to come up with it! And I loved the pictures! There's something magical in looking at wired, random picture that people took and trying to imagine a narrative for them!

*Book from NetGalley with many thanks the publisher for the opportunity to read this!

[Andy Haddon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best compliment I can give this book is that it's the literary equivalent of bingeing the Detectorists TV show; it's warm, and it's funny, and it tackles some hard issues with an understated gravitas that is as affecting as it is commendable, particularly for a book clearly aimed at a mainstream audience who might not typically read a book that manages to be about shape-shifting aliens and Thatcher's war on the British mining industry in the early 80s.

Cox references lots of things I can relate to from my own childhood, so it was almost as if this book was laser guided straight at me, rattling loose my own memories of enjoying primary school and the teachers whose influence and teaching has remained with me these past four decades.

There's also a reference (in the form of a fictional album review) of one of my favourite bands which I have reviewed IRL, which made for an interesting meta moment; a book that is essentially about memories of events and (mis)remembering events being as important as the facts themselves, presenting a review not dissimilar from something I myself have written.

Like Cox's previous novel Villager, the narrative moves around between the characters, and I think it's testimony to the warmth and empathy that Cox creates, that even when the narrator is a shape-shifting alien in the form of an alpaca, my belief in the story (and it's myriad of threads and 'levels') never wavered; even when we grow out of childhood we still tell ourselves stories to justify the events and changes of circumstance in our lives and the lives of our friends and family. In 1983 Cox manages to illustrate that, whilst we might question the authenticity of the narrator, the veracity of their story remains without question.

Two people might share the same event, but their memories of that event, and the stories they shape to give voice to those memories will be very different.

There are a bunch of photos that accompany the story, I presume of the author and people he knows and/or remembers from his childhood. These photos serve to tell us that whilst 1983 might be a fiction, it's also very much drawing from Cox's own childhood experiences. Remembering photos of from my own childhood, it's another clever way that the author pulls us into his story, so that 1983 becomes OUR story too.

'Course, it's not really a story about a boy and his memories of childhood at all.

It's a story about the 80s and the emergence of the dangerous political ideology that laid waste to swathes of British industry, and the teaching profession, and child services, and mental heath services and changed the lives of millions for the worse.

And maybe it's not about that at all. Maybe it is about shape-shifting aliens and their appraisal of the planet's apex predator.

Loved this book.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whimsical, poignant, and absolutely bonkers. I loved this, the latest dive into the imagination of Tom Cox.

Blurb:
I used to view my memory as a sealed metal box of images in my mind. In reality, it's a colony of ants, off doing their own thing in a back room while I am busy elsewhere.

Benji is an imaginative eight-year old boy, living with his parents in a mining village in Nottinghamshire amidst the spoil heaps and chip ships that characterise the last industrially bruised outposts of the Midlands, just before Northern England begins. HIs family are the eccentric neighbours on a street where all the houses are set on a tilt, slowly subsiding into the excavated space below. Told through Benji's voice, and a colourful variet of others over a deeply joyful and strange twelve-month period, it's a story about growing up, the oddness beneath the everyday, what we once believed the future would be, and those times in life when anything seems possible,

1983 is steeped in the distinctive character of a setting far weirder than it might at first appear: from robots living next door and a school caretaker who is not all he seems, to missing memories and the aliens Benji is certain are trying to abduct him.

This novel is a captivating and nostalgic exploration of childhood, imagination and freedom, from the bestselling author Tom Cox.

This novel starts off as one thing - and morphs so slowly, so carefully, so logically into something else that you're not quite sure how you got there, but it was a fabulous journey. Remember the early-mid '80's, and the miners strikes? All the political upheaval as the Midlands moved away from heavy industry as the coal mines were shut down? Now view this through the joyous vision of a boy growing up here, who is loving life, and everyone he meets. How does this turn into a story about the aliens who are on a mission to save their planet, and can morph into alpacas? I don't know, but Tom Cox achieves this seamlessly, in a novel that I really didn't want to finish! I can't wait for his next book, and see where the author's imagination takes us... it's a rabbit hole of mystery and wonder, that's for sure!

P.S. Tom Cox is published by Unbound - essentially, a Kickstarter for books. I'd highly recommend supporting him (and anyone else on Unbound) as a way to get to some of the more interesting, definitely not mainstream, works that are being written today. And you'll get your name immortalised in print as a supporter!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novel because it was just slightly different from what I usually read. The author’s voice was both descriptive and nostalgic, with meandering pacing to match. Photographs are randomly included from time to time, but not captioned, so I consistently wondered if is was a memoir or fictional.

This novel is very character focused, starting as an imaginative stream of consciousness / slice of life wander through the eyes of a young boy, Benji, focusing on friends and school and parents and his neighbourhood in Nottinghamshire in 1983. But then the pov switches to other characters (mostly adults) reminiscing about that particular time and place in the past. This switch didn’t completely work for me for awhile - while the adult povs added extra information to the boy’s story, I really just wanted to get back to the Benji’s story, and the timeline jumping took a bit to get used to. However, in the end, it all gets a bit weird, which works out quite cleverly as the povs start to corroborate elements previously told, and though the conclusion is abrupt I found it quite satisfying.

So I didn’t mind this, particularly the slow, nostalgic atmosphere of the Benji’s story, and the clever speculative callbacks nearer the end as the story comes together.

Thank you to Netgalley and Unbound for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Haxxunne · Rating 3 out of 5]

An industrial Swallows and Amazons

Let me start with: other people are weird. The author, Tom Cox, is weird.

Actually, this novel is a lovely example of kishōtenketsu, and you will not see the fourth act twist no matter how you read the first three. In a conflict-free childhood world (of 1983, when Greenham Common was going on, when Thatcher was eviscerating the miners), the author, or rather, his alter ego Benji narrates the year he was eight, seen from forty years later. The opening chapter fails to unite the narrative, but about a quarter of the way in the book starts to work, and other voices are given their time in the sun, from Benji's family members and school friends, to neighbours, teachers and others.

The others is where it gets weird; No spoilers, but WEIRD.

Do I think it works? No, I'm not sure that it does. It's like a table with three normal length legs and one that's super-long, which means it's forever tilting, completely off balance and everything slides off the tabletop. The bit that fails most is the present day bits, too little, too light, putting all the hard work on eight year old Benji, which is fine, but this isn't a kid's book, and the other stuff suffers in comparison. It's not the first time I've noted this of an Unbound book, and it probably won't be the last.

An uneven three stars.

[Jeni Hankins · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I finished “1983” I missed the characters immediately. It was as if I’d been spending time with real people who’d moved somewhere halfway across the world and I knew I wouldn’t be seeing them again. The great thing is that I can re-read “1983” and see everyone again. This is third book I’ve read by Tom Cox and it felt entirely different and as wonderful as “Villager” and “Notebook.” I don’t want to say too much because speaking about my favorite parts will risk spoiling the plot for others who haven’t read to the end yet. But I love the way Tom uses different voices for the cast of characters and local language like “nesh” and “flannel.” The voices and dialect as well as his spot-on descriptions made me feel like I lived next door to Benji and went to his fabulous school.
Ok, let me just say that aliens morphing into Alpacas may seem really unlikely, but I was truly committed to their mission and it’s the wonder of Tom’s writing that can inspire that kind of investment in the fantastic.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 / 5

Thank you Tom Cox, netgalley and unbound for providing me with this arc in return for an honest review.

The book synopsis does describe the book perfectly.

As a child of the 80's (The best decade of course) I enjoyed this book. The endless references to all things 80's had me nodding in agreement and smiling when something I had forgotten about suddenly turned up.

Shout out to the Gnasher pin-badge. Wore mine with pride.!

The book tells of events Past, present and future of 1983 through recollections from many characters. The stories inter-connect with mentions of other character stories observations. The cast of characters is certainly expansive and often strange including Alpacas and Daffodils !

I decided a 3.5 as although I enjoyed the book, it did meander all over the place sometimes and ultimately the ending was very abrupt and I am not sure I fully understood the ending.

[Elke · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am really sorry to say that this is the first book ever I decided to not finish after 30%. The first couple of pages were interesting, and I was wondering what adventures Benji would encounter next. But then I noticed this was just a collection of anecdotes, a series of small events and thoughts of people I was not able to relate to. There was no real introduction, and most important, no real plot you could follow - just this sequence of moments and comments which I had already forgotten after turning the next page. I did not care for the people in this book, and thus was not very interested in what they had to say. The photos did not help either, they just seemed to be randomly thrown between the pages - a short note or description may have helped to put them in context.
Finally, I want to emphasize that this is my personal humble opinion. I do not intend to belittle the author's efforts in writing this book - it just wasn't mine.

[NN · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book what I could still consider in previous books as nature writing went full acid folk here. I was already enamoured by the 80s nostalgia of the Stranger Things series, the graphic work of Simon Stålenhag and the recent scifi movies of Bruno Dumont, and this fits right in, in its own peculiar way.

What I can only believe to be an autobiography of childhood with a more than generous freedom of narrative. You remember all these things that should feel very normal, except there are all these anomalies in the scenery, all the time. As if your memory didn't play enough tricks with you already.

Let me ladle some more praise: Walter Benjamin's Berliner Kindheit is another reference point for picking up this book. Benjamin, but with more alpacas. And because of the narrative the photos even work too.

[Tim Rideout · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Kids have such an instinctive sense for the hidden, the stuff under the icing on top of everything. It’s one of the reasons we should let them wander a little, permit them to discover danger and magic firsthand. It’s what so many of the old fairy tales are about.’

A polyphonic novel, set apart by a heady mix of weirdness and nostalgia, 1983 is deliciously strange and familiar. Ribena, orange junior aspirin, The Return of the Jedi swirl around the Falklands Conflict and the coming of the miners’ strike. Eight year old Benji, the central narrator, is our magical guide reminding us all how bizarre, disconcerting and inexplicable the world can be in those later years at primary school.

[Bethnoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took me longer to read than Tom Cox's other books, but I really enjoyed it once I settled in to the style.

Different narrators take up the story across chapters giving multiple viewpoints of the same small period of time and place.

It feels like a love poem to a 1980s childhood, a time more free and full of potential, but also risky, a bit scary and worrying.

I am a bit older than the main character Benji, but I remember schools before the national curriculum and the commitment and artistic talents of my primary school teachers.

I am glad I spent time in the world of this book, it was a good place to visit.

[Sara Habein · Rating 4 out of 5]

With this novel loosely inspired by his own childhood, Tom Cox examines the nature of memory and community in an unusual way. What at first seems like a straightforward story about a kid's perspective on his school, family, and friends —followed by his parents' remembrance of the time— soon turns into an exploration far beyond what anyone might expect. And it's funny too! I really respect how Cox is always trying new things with his writing and each new book has some weird little avenue he's interested in. Even if not everything resonates with me every time, I'm always game to see where he goes.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for bookclub and if it hadn't been for that reason I don't think I would have kept going.

this book was not what I expected, the blurred lines between fiction and fantasy were a little too much for me and I found myself just confused at points. The first chapter, written from benji the child's point of view worked for me as the chaos and rambling felt child like but the others chapters, from his parents, headmistress etc seemed to also have that rambling feel which didn't work for me.

I'm also not quite sure what the point of the story was?

[Chris Chanona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure if this was memoir, memories or fiction. The writing is engaging, especially by Benjy, but I could have done without some segments.

I did not like the photos. Sorry. I want to use my own imagination.

You might enjoy this if you were a child in 1983 and like gentle and humorous memories.

I read a review copy provided by Netgalley.co.uk and the publishers.

[Jamad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay, barely, for me. Some nice writing and engaging phrases here and there but not enough to keep me enthralled. As someone else said it was rather like an industrial Swallows and Amazons - I didn’t enjoy S&A either.

I found the photos in the book unnecessary and distracting - perhaps I would have felt differently had I been reading a hard copy.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little blast from the past, that brings back so many memories of what it was like living in those times.
For me at least.
Benji has a wonderful imagination, and brings his family to life so well, with bonus photos.
A lovely little read.

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an early read of 1983. Whilst I was an adult during this year it was nostalgic to look back on it through a child's eyes. Is it fiction? is it memoirs? who knows! It was an enjoyable short read.

[Claire Milne · Rating 4 out of 5]

À strong 4. 5 and only not a 5 as Villager by Tom Cox is still my favourite. This book made me nostalgic for what felt like a simpler time. I loved the characters and the the 80s portrayal of childhood and connections.

[Bliss R · Rating 4 out of 5]

1983 focuses on Benji who is eight and growing up in Nottinghamshire in the 80's. It contains many references to culture which make the story really come to life. It's imaginative and at times funny. I like the way Cox blends real and fictional elements. Rich setting and descriptions.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

To tell a story with so many narrative voices is either genius or madness.
To take on that task and complete it so convincingly so engagingly is both genius *and* madness.
Luckily, Tom Cox is just that sort of mad genius writer.

[Don McKinlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is cunningly well written. Simplistic and naive, but engaging and memorable. It feels like anyone could do it but it’s actually very clever and imho needs real talent and expertise to carry it off. Can a book be greater than the sum of its parts? I’d suggest 1983 says it can

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminded me of my childhood, growing up in a similar time and place. thank you for sharing. Thank you to # NetGalley and the publisher for an ARc.

[Miki Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is different to what I've read of this author before. It comes across as part memoir, part whimsy. Because of this it took me longer to read than normal.
Kind of kooky but entertaining.