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Pity | Andrew McMillan
6 posts | 6 read | 13 to read
The town was once a hub of industry. A place where men toiled underground in darkness, picking and shovelling in the dust and the sleck. It was dangerous and back-breaking work but it meant something. Once, the town provided, it was important, it had purpose. But what is it now? Brothers Alex and Brian have spent their whole life in the town where their father lived and his father, too. Still reeling from the collapse of his personal life, Alex, is now in his middle age, and must reckon with a part of his identity he has long tried to mask. Simon is the only child of Alex and had practically no memory of the mines. Now in his twenties and working in a call centre, he derives passion from his side hustle in sex work and his weekly drag gigs as the extravagant Puttana Short Dress. Set across three generations of South Yorkshire mining family, Andrew McMillan's short and magnificent debut novel is a lament for a lost way of a life as well as a celebration of resilience and the possibility for change.
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rockpools
Pity | Andrew McMillan
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Currently reading/loving this queer story of a mining town. Thanks @squirrelbrain

squirrelbrain Glad you‘re loving it! 🥰 2w
39 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
Cathythoughts
Pity | Andrew McMillan
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Thanks so much Helen. ❤️ I‘m excited for this one. You are very good X XX I see you say in your review, the writer is a poet and the writing beautiful. ❤️

squirrelbrain You‘re welcome Cathy! I wonder if the other one will ever turn up, or if it‘s lost for good?! 😘 7mo
TrishB I loved this one ♥️ very clever. 7mo
Cathythoughts @squirrelbrain Thanks 😘. You never know 🤞🏻 it‘s out there somewhere ❤️❤️❤️ 7mo
Cathythoughts @TrishB It‘s a lovely gift to receive and I‘m looking forward to it 🥰 7mo
64 likes4 comments
review
AnneCecilie
Pity | Andrew McMillan
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Pickpick

The city used to be a mining city before it was closed down, and we follow 3 generations in the same family, and how they are living. We‘re also meeting the academics that come in to learn something and make a difference.

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TrishB
Pity | Andrew McMillan
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Pickpick

I‘ve no idea why this resonated so much with me- I‘m not from Barnsley, a gay man or a miner. I think it was the age old working class v expectations theme.
Absolutely beautiful writing, especially the mine sections (obvious the author is a poet) he is Professor of Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University- his students are lucky to have him.
A thought provoking read.

squirrelbrain It‘s so beautifully written isn‘t it? I thought that the ‘academic‘ sections really highlighted the differences between expectations and realism / history. 9mo
charl08 I'll have a look for a copy. The discussion on R4 put me off! 9mo
rockpools Very stacked! Great review Trish. 9mo
See All 9 Comments
LeahBergen Great review, Trish! I‘m intrigued. 👍 9mo
BarbaraBB Very intrigued too by your review 9mo
CarolynM Sounds great. Stacked. 9mo
Reggie Had me at obvious the author is a poet. Great review, TrishB. Stacked. 9mo
Cathythoughts Sounds good. Stacked 9mo
batsy Nice review! Haven't heard of this one but I'm definitely adding it to the list now. 9mo
80 likes7 stack adds9 comments
review
squirrelbrain
Pity | Andrew McMillan
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Pickpick

Set in a Yorkshire pit town, this short debut novel follows 3 generations of a mining family as they wrestle with their identities.

The author is a poet and you can really tell from the beautiful writing. The structure takes a while to get used to, with short passages from each man, plus reports from a group of academics who are doing an art project in the town, as well as parts of the story told through surveillance cameras. Some reviewers felt

squirrelbrain …that this gave a distance to the book, but I didn‘t think so at all. 9mo
TheKidUpstairs Fantastic cover design! 9mo
TrishB I‘m half way through, the writing is amazing ❤️ reading slowly for a change to savour. 9mo
squirrelbrain Glad you‘re loving it @TrishB 9mo
74 likes4 stack adds4 comments
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AllDebooks
Pity | Andrew McMillan
Pickpick

#NetgalleyGroup

Thank you to #Netgalley and #Canongate publishers for access to an arc for review.

Within just 100 pages, McMillan paints a very rich and honest account of a family growing up around the miner's strike, in Thatcher's Britain. Alongside a developing relationship with Ryan, Simon floats between jobs, trying to leave his mark on the world as a drag queen.
Cont. ⬇

AllDebooks Cont.
The characters are portrayed so well for such a short book. I found it full of hope, love, loss and in an empowering way, grief. McMillan also lands a political punch at the rise in poverty, the loss of community and camaraderie between the miners. The passages describing the men coming out of their houses early every morning, setting off to the mine in a communal walk were especially profound and moving.

What an extraordinary debut.
10mo
34 likes1 comment