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Impressive in its scope and ambition, this first novel is at once a family saga, a book that reimagines the myth of the empire, and a history of objects. Narrated by 54-year-old Evie Steppman, who grew up in Nigeria in the 1950s during the last decade of British rule.
This requires a revolution in thinking: a steady stream of disruptive strategies and unexpected solutions. In Disrupt, Luke Williams shows exactly how to generate those strategies and deliver those solutions.
Luke's mum is dead. He finds himself in a small, scruffy northern hill town, with a near silent father, who he fears might be trying to drink himself to death. Then he meets Jon. Jon is massively strange. He wears 1950s clothes, has a side-parting and a twitch. The kids at school call him 'Slackjaw'. When Luke discovers his secret, Jon changes his life in more ways than he can imagine. Luke and Jon is a coming of age novel about family, bereavement and how lives can change forever in a single second. Written with great power, warmth and humour, it signals a hugely engaging and original new voice. Compelling and emotionally acute, it is a unique debut.
The first ever biography of slave turned bare-knuckle boxing legend Bill Richmond (1763-1829).
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Luke Williams flies to Kuala Lumpur coming down off crystal meth without plans or much cash. He is in Asia for three years. He spends time working as a prostitute in Pattaya, eats snake heart in Vietnam, consults an American medium in Ubud, and explores the eye-popping red light scenes in Jakarta and the Philippines. Along the way, he encounters other Westerners who go to Asia for the things they can't find at home - riches, wives, ladyboys, cheap living and even cheaper drugs, cults, spices, mountains, tropical beaches, beach gigolos, 'self-esteem' necklaces, and ascended masters. Luke fully immerses himself in every environment and encounter, going far beyond reportage, while aspects of his own history - his dreams, disappointments, urges, and his inherited struggle with mental illness - begin to catch up with him. He becomes addicted to Valium, is haunted by the past, and ends up in jail. Ultimately, Luke is confronted by what is and what was, and his own footprint upon it all.
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