Off the Mark

by Will Stebbings

A humorous rite of passage novel set in 1960s Norfolk in the days before computers, but in an era of glorious soul music Off the Mark charts the progress of Mark Barker, who at sixteen years old leaves an all boys’ Grammar School with absolutely no experience of girls or, indeed, the world as a whole. Mark’s first foray into the world of work is at an office in a time before computers or modern photocopiers or calculators. His first job also launches him into the presence of girls. As a very shy youth who lacks confidence in his ability to attract the opposite sex, he ends up forming attractions to all the wrong girls – for all the wrong reasons. He wavers between the waspish Karen, who breaks his heart with her lack of compassion, the beautiful Pauline and painfully shy Debbie. Unsuccessful blind dates and foursomes only serve to exacerbate the loneliness of this sensitive teenager, as he scrapes through to manhood – luckily his sense of humour pulls him through.Off the Mark brings life in the sixties for a working class family in a small Norfolk town vividly to life and will be a stroll down memory lane for many readers.

336 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2012

Reviews

[Elaine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dull Dull Dull Dull Dull. I gave up reading at 40%. Don't make me go back there!

I like nostalgia reads so as quite looking forward to this one, being set in the mid 1960s. I am, after all, a child of the sixties!

Mark is leaving his all boys grammar school with one or two aims - to get a job, get some new clothes, buy a bike and meet girls.

The first thing you notice is the writing style. It seems quite charming at first but very soon starts to grate, reading like a "What I did on my school holiday" type of essay. It doesn't feel like a novel at all, more like a memoir.

The second thing you notice is just how deadly dull it is. Mark gets a job in a payrole office and we are treated to a minute by minute account of what the job entails. "I fetched the coffee, brought it back and drank it, then picked up the filing and filed it. After that I got more coffee and then had to deliver a piece of paper to someone" - That type of stuff. I read to get away from my daily life - not get more of the same but without the technology.

[Paula Schumm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Troubador Publishing for a free advance download of Off the Mark by Will Stebbings.
Off the Mark is the coming-of-age story of Mark Barker in Norfolk, UK. Mark graduates from high school and goes straight into the job force. He is 17 years old. Over the next two years he grows up: he gets a driver's license, joins sports teams, learns how to act in work and social situations, and learns about women. This novel culminates in he and a divorcee having sex in the back seat of a car. Meh. This one is okay, but not one I will tell my friends to run out and buy.