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A Natural
A Natural | Ross Raisin
9 posts | 3 read | 4 to read
Tom has always known exactly the person he is going to be. A successful footballer. A man others look up to. Now, though, the bright future he imagined for himself is threatened.
The Premier League academy of his boyhood has let him go. At nineteen, Tom finds himself playing for a tiny club in a town he has never heard of. But as he navigates his isolation and his desperate need for recognition, a sudden and thrilling encounter offers him the promise of an escape, and Tom is forced to question whether he can reconcile his supressed desires with his dreams of success.
Leah, the captains wife, has almost forgotten the dreams she once held, for her career, her marriage. Moving again, as her husband is transferred from club to club, she is lost, disillusioned with where life has taken her.
A Natural delves into the heart of a professional football club: the pressure, the loneliness, the threat of scandal, the fragility of the body and the struggle, on and off the pitch, with conforming to the person that everybody else expects you to be.
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blurb
Reggie
A Natural | Ross Raisin
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#MusicalNewYear #MyShot A shot at professional football stardom doesn‘t always mesh with your shot at a happy life off the field.

Cathythoughts Good interpretation 👍🏻 5y
Cinfhen Well done ⚽️⚽️⚽️ 5y
erzascarletbookgasm Nice one. I like your interpretation..and I just read your review of the book one year ago! 😄👍 5y
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merelybookish Oh, I read this! It was on the #tob long list. Poor Tom. He sacrificed so much for his shot, including a personality. 5y
BookishTrish Nicely played 5y
Reggie @Cathythoughts @Cinfhen @erzascarletbookgasm Thanks!!! @merelybookish Yeah, that Tom....I felt bad for his lover who lost everything except himself. That Tob longlist has not failed me. Last year or this year. 5y
merelybookish @Reggie The long list is always so exciting. I love to indiscriminately make my way through a bunch of under-the-radar books. This was one of those reads. I usually manage about 4, and then the short list comes out which always is a but of a let down. 5y
vivastory Didn't know about this one. Sounds good. 5y
61 likes8 comments
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TrishB
A Natural | Ross Raisin
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#actnaturally #heyjune
Still on the tbr!

Reggie I think you might like this, because during the games they chant horrible things about other players. It made me think of you. 6y
TrishB @Reggie 😂😂 hopefully people will not be judging me on those comments..... 6y
GypsyKat Perfect! 👍 6y
96 likes3 comments
review
Reggie
A Natural | Ross Raisin
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Pickpick

This starts a little slow, but the author took care to encapsulate me into the world of a UK football team trying to stave off relegation, and all the pressure that comes with it. There are two main characters. Tom, a deeply repressed gay athlete just trying to get playing time, and Leah, the wife of the team captain, who is starting to wonder if everything is worth it. I could smell the grass from the pitch while reading. Very good!! #TOBLonglist

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merelybookish
A Natural | Ross Raisin
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Tournament of Books 2018 long list is out. I have some reading to do!!
#bookhaul #tob18

ohyeahthatgirl I've read more on the list than expected and I own a few more. I didn't get into it last year, but this year looks great. 6y
mklong I‘m excited too! I‘ve only read 6 from the longlist, but I own 4 more, so I‘ll start with those. It really is the most wonderful time of the year. 6y
merelybookish @ohyeahthatgirl @mklong The long list is my favourite part now. Seeing how many I've read over the year and then trying to figure out which ones will make the short list. I always end up reading something good that I would have otherwise missed. 6y
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BarbaraBB So excited about the long list. I only read 9 and own 2 more so I have a lot of important decisions to make of what books I am choosing from the remaining 61...! 6y
merelybookish @BarbaraBB A friend and I try to divide and conquer. Between us we've read 22 on the long list. Which leaves us with 50! 6y
BarbaraBB Smart! Any recommendations to share with me?! 6y
merelybookish @BarbaraBB I really liked Idaho and the Idiot. Haven't read Universal Harvester yet but I think it could make the short list.(The author was a judge in a previous year.) Lincoln on the Bardo for certain. And maybe Ministry of Utmost Happiness? After that, not sure. Will keep you posted! ☺️ 6y
BarbaraBB Thanks! I‘ll check out Idaho and the Idiot and Universal Harvest! The other two I read for the Man Booker shortlist. 6y
batsy I should pay more attention to this. The longlist has a fascinating array of books and I've read maybe 2-3 😳 New books are expensive here and I so wish we have a library system 😭😭 6y
merelybookish @batsy No library system! 😨 I'm so sorry. That would drastically reduce my reading of new and old! Do you rely mostly on used book stores? 6y
batsy @merelybookish Yes. Also we have a big remainders bookstore. For a lot of new books I wait until they're out in a cheaper paperback if I want to read it and order from Book Depository. 😬 The single biggest thing I miss about my time in Canada: the library 😭 6y
merelybookish @batsy Now I have all kinds of questions. ☺️ Where did you live in Canada? How long? For school? 6y
batsy @merelybookish Haha, yes I went to Winnipeg (!) purely by chance for school. And stayed on for about 4+ years. A short while but feels so significant because it was so memorable! We have lots of programmes here for tertiary education where we do a portion in a local college then transfer abroad. Was meant to head to the US initially but my dad passed away and I took time off and then 9/11 happened and getting a visa to the US was hellish. 6y
89 likes13 comments
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LibrarianRyan
A Natural | Ross Raisin
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#bookmail set 2.

review
shawnmooney
A Natural | Ross Raisin
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Bailedbailed

The story and especially the shy young guy who's at the centre of it are just not holding my interest. The writing is fine, but I am just not caring about anything that's happening so far. I don't do well with dull, flat protagonists. Abandoned at the 15% mark.

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shawnmooney
A Natural | Ross Raisin
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I love it when novels open with an ode to the moon! 😂😂🌝🌝🌝🌝

LeahBergen 😂😂 This is magnificent! 7y
shawnmooney @LeahBergen Now, why did I know you'd be the first to comment! 🌛🌜🌙😂😂 7y
Marchpane "Returning emphatically" - love it! ? 7y
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saresmoore Ahahahaha! 7y
saresmoore Oh and I just remembered this is the sports book! 7y
andrew61 That looks great, his first novel was one i really enjoyed 'god's own country ' so ill definitely read this. 7y
35 likes6 comments
blurb
shawnmooney
A Natural | Ross Raisin
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The only way I could possibly read a book about sports is if it was also about homosexuality… :-)

Marchpane I have this on my TBR - look forward to your review! 7y
ReadingEnvy I'm going with ice skating for mine 7y
39 likes2 stack adds2 comments
blurb
shawnmooney
A Natural | Ross Raisin
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The Read Harder Challenge stipulates I need to read a book about sports. Yuck: I loathe sports. So I was delighted to hear on the latest Vintage podcast that there is a novel coming out soon from the UK about a gay footballer.
https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/in-conversation/podcasts/vintage-podcast/2017... (scroll down a bit on that webpage for Part 2)

andrew61 If it's anything like his first novel 'Gods own country' I'm sure it will be very good. 7y
26 likes1 comment