Faber & Faber (13+) 9780571382972 (Paperback) Download activities and reading resources pack
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Content advice: strong language, violence, mentions of drug taking and child abuse, attempted suicide, PTSD, panic attacks, chronic illness, abandonment, depression, self-harm, hate.
A moving story of love and family in all manners and modes. Finlay and Banjo are estranged friends who have both grown up in the care system. Finlay is at university studying nursing, but has little support around him. Banjo is still at high school and is struggling in his new foster home. The two come together in a coming-of-age story full of resilience and courage.
The dual narrative works incredibly well, giving the story forward momentum with flashbacks providing an effective narrative device to provide perspectives on the past. The writing offers an incisive exploration of masculinity and mental health. Despite its gritty realism, a sense of optimism radiates throughout. The focus on touch highlights just how deprived of human connection children in the care system can be. Measured, tender and memorable, Finlay and Banjo stay with readers long after the final pages are turned.
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Margaret McDonald is a 25-year-old Scottish author from Glasgow. She is published in the disability-focused magazine Breath and Shadow as well as the prose and poetry magazines Bandit Fiction, Bubble Lit, In Parentheses, and The Manifest Station. Margaret worked for the NHS after shielding for a year, during which time she finished her Masters in English Literature from Glasgow University with Distinction. She also has a First Class BA (Hons) from Strathclyde University, where she studied writing.
Margaret worked with a children’s therapist who grew up in the care system, as well as a Polish author, on ensuring the care system and immigrant Polish identity in Glasgow Boys were authentic.
She expertly weaves her own experiences into the novel, of her working-class Scottish background, her Crohn’s disease diagnosis, her pain medication dependency, her experience working for the NHS, her partner’s work with social services, their plans to become foster carers and much more.
For any further information please contact Bethany Carter, Publicity Manager, on 07500 835 410 or Bethany.carter@faber.co.uk