Spaces, (Paperback)

"Of all the spaces a child might occupy, silence is the worst." SPACES Spaces, tells the story of Eliot Thomas, a boy troubled at school and troubled at home, who only finds solace when, one night, he secretly observes a prostitute at work and decides, whatever the cost, to take his turn, and make her his. Set in 1982 in an English seaside town, the novel explores the spaces children occupy absent of grown-ups, physical as well as conceptual, language, sex, silence, violence, abuse etc. It occurred to him then, that memories were a bit like clouds: they were not constant things, but had a habit of changing shape-even while you watched-remaining true for but a moment, before breaking up, or dissolving to nothing-never to be recalled. "Gritty and uncompromising, Spaces, could be regarded as a modern day, Kes." "Relevant and unsettling...every parent should read this." "A genuine page turner, with some proper laugh out loud moments, which is always gold."