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Heaven's Promise
London, 1988, and the winds of change are blowing through the city, kicking up a storm. A gal pregnant and a DJ running for cover. The birth of the e generation and a race riot erupting.
The Sheriff is trying to talk to Prince and Sammy the Foot is dancing up a treat. Everything was Tuesday until she quit without an explanation whilst a young Italian is looking to score and a mother is fighting off the fascists. Someone just dropped one and said ‘it’s as if we were in heaven’ whilst outside the club a seven-month-old baby is crying hard.
Heaven’s Promise stands, still underrated, in the intersection of great modern London novels, between Absolute Beginners and Trainspotting – a tradition of youthful struggle and creative ambition embodied in a City of Dreams, a vision as potent in the rave culture of the late eighties as it was in the fifties – and as it is today.
The Sheriff is trying to talk to Prince and Sammy the Foot is dancing up a treat. Everything was Tuesday until she quit without an explanation whilst a young Italian is looking to score and a mother is fighting off the fascists. Someone just dropped one and said ‘it’s as if we were in heaven’ whilst outside the club a seven-month-old baby is crying hard.
Heaven’s Promise stands, still underrated, in the intersection of great modern London novels, between Absolute Beginners and Trainspotting – a tradition of youthful struggle and creative ambition embodied in a City of Dreams, a vision as potent in the rave culture of the late eighties as it was in the fifties – and as it is today.
180 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1994
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About the author
Paolo Hewitt
43 books31 followersPaolo Hewitt was born on July 11, 1958 in Redhill, Surrey, England.
Paolo Hewitt is a former NME journalist and author of over 20 books, including, with Mark Baxter, The Fashion of Football (Mainstream), Oasis... There and Then (1996), Outside Bet (2012) and Casuals: The Story of the Legendary Terrace Fashion (2011)
Paolo Hewitt is a former NME journalist and author of over 20 books, including, with Mark Baxter, The Fashion of Football (Mainstream), Oasis... There and Then (1996), Outside Bet (2012) and Casuals: The Story of the Legendary Terrace Fashion (2011)
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 21, 2015
Heaven's Promise: A Novel is unashamedly in thrall to Colin MacInnes’s Absolute Beginners. By so obviously referencing Absolute Beginners I was consistently reminded of that source novel and, whilst there’s much to enjoy in Heaven's Promise: A Novel it's not in the same league as Absolute Beginners.
Heaven's Promise: A Novel is set around 1988-89, and the Acid House-inspired 'Second Summer of Love', and contains a memorable description of the nameless DJ protagonist’s first experience taking the drug MDMA (Ecstasy). Despite this context, most of the book is concerned with the love life of nameless DJ protagonist and specifically the unwelcome arrival of his daughter. He does his best to ignore his child and her mother, and is frequently downright unpleasant to the mother of his child. Will or won’t he face up to his responsibilities?
Various other plot strands come and go: a race riot (a la Absolute Beginners), a cafe owning Italian couple and their football mad son, raves, the enigmatic Brother P, the nameless DJ protagonist’s obsession with soul and hiphop, and a few more besides. Overall none of these strands provides a particularly compelling narrative.
I enjoyed the descriptions of London, particularly north London, and the culture clash of the various races interacting. The “hip” writing style was a misstep with Paolo Hewitt trying too hard to adhere to some ludicrous notion of cool.
Heaven's Promise: A Novel is flawed and inessential, however if you enjoy novels about London, and I most certainly do, then this is still well worth reading.
3/5
Heaven's Promise: A Novel is set around 1988-89, and the Acid House-inspired 'Second Summer of Love', and contains a memorable description of the nameless DJ protagonist’s first experience taking the drug MDMA (Ecstasy). Despite this context, most of the book is concerned with the love life of nameless DJ protagonist and specifically the unwelcome arrival of his daughter. He does his best to ignore his child and her mother, and is frequently downright unpleasant to the mother of his child. Will or won’t he face up to his responsibilities?
Various other plot strands come and go: a race riot (a la Absolute Beginners), a cafe owning Italian couple and their football mad son, raves, the enigmatic Brother P, the nameless DJ protagonist’s obsession with soul and hiphop, and a few more besides. Overall none of these strands provides a particularly compelling narrative.
I enjoyed the descriptions of London, particularly north London, and the culture clash of the various races interacting. The “hip” writing style was a misstep with Paolo Hewitt trying too hard to adhere to some ludicrous notion of cool.
Heaven's Promise: A Novel is flawed and inessential, however if you enjoy novels about London, and I most certainly do, then this is still well worth reading.
3/5
June 25, 2015
I loved being back in London of 1988, if only in my mind. I used to visit London during this time. The mix of cultures and music coming together at this time was incredible. As for the protagonist of the story, he seems like a bit of a jerk. While he speaks about treating women well, he certainly does not treat them well. The end of the book was a bit predictable and I didn't really care about this character or what happened to him. However, I am interested to read more of Paolo Hewitt's books on music as he has written for NME for decades.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews