Prospect Hill

This is a novel exploring a transitional moment in British society. It is set in Stockport in 1970, when the life-style changes of the 1960s - and indeed the very concept of life-style - began to penetrate all levels of the community. Its originality lies in the ways it explores private and public lives, family structures and political manoeuvres. Its significance is that it provides a tragi-comic analysis of the concept of 'home' when the word was being redefined for the modern period. Its rigour comes from being grounded in the local and national politics of the time (Sir Rodney Brooke, Secretary of the Association of Metropolitan Councils praised its authenticity in the Times 02/09/03). Its excellence is testified to by many national reviews: Alfred Hickling in the Guardian compared me with Zadie Smith in reference to our ability to combine comedy and poetry; D.J.Taylor (Independent) described the book as 'an inspired attempt at reinventing that time-limned genre, the English provincial novel'; and Sean O'Brien, in a lengthy TLS review, talked of its 'wryly comic authority'