Description
'1993 was the year that Stephen Lawrence got murdered by racists, and I became an angry Black lad with a "chip on his shoulder"'
Aeon, a mixed-up and mixed-race teenager from a leafy Liverpool suburb, is desperate to understand the Black identity thrust upon him. He grows dreadlocks and immerses himself in 'gangsta' rap. But Aeon's journey of self-discovery is hampered by the fact that the only Black people in his life are his dad and his cousin, Increase.
Aeon's ambition to find his place in the world takes him to Jamaica. Here, Aeon soon finds that smoking loads of weed, growing messy locks and wearing massive red boots don't necessarily help him to fit in. Within days of his arrival he is mugged, arrested and banged up in a Jamaican detention centre. Seen as the 'White boy', he finds that his journey of self-discovery has only just begun - and he's going to have to fight for the respect and recognition he deserves . . .
A coming-of-age comedy of errors, Locks is an electric debut novel about growing up, wising up, and finding your place in a world of opposites.
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'Blends humour and introspection, poetry and the poignant' - Derek Owusu, author of the Desmond Elliott Prize-winning That Reminds Me
'Irreverent, authentic and utterly enthralling. A wonderful book' - Jimmy McGovern, creator of the drama series Cracker
'Twisty, energetic, voice-led . . . Nugent is pure talent' - Raymond Antrobus, author of the Rathbones Folio Prize-winning The Perseverance
'Thought provoking and funny' - David Beckler, author of A Long Shadow
1993 was the year that Stephen Lawrence got murdered by racists, and I became an angry Black lad with a "chip on his shoulder."
About the Author
Ashleigh Nugent was Liverpool City Region's Artist of the Year in 2022. He has been published in academic journals, poetry anthologies and magazines. His debut novel, Locks, is based on the time he spent his seventeenth birthday in a Jamaican detention centre. Nugent has written for the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and Live Theatre, Newcastle. He is now a special advisor at the Shakespeare North Playhouse, a theatre built on the site where he had his first pint aged fourteen, facing the place he was first locked up by racist police, built on the car park where he was once threatened with an axe. Nugent is also a director at RiseUp, where he uses his own life experience to support prisoners and inspire change.
Reviews
A search for meaning and the complicated expression of multiple cultures. Ashleigh is a born storyteller, able to blend humour and introspection, poetry and the poignant. -- Derek Owusu, author of That Reminds Me
I loved Locks. It's a twisty, energetic, voice-led novel, written with humour and skill and drama . . . Like Virginia Woolf but from the ends. Nugent is pure talent, something else. -- Raymond Antrobus, author of The Perseverance
Thought-provoking and funny . . . perfectly captures the sense of being between two cultures, whilst never feeling fully part of either . . . full of larger-than-life characters who jump off the page. -- David Beckler, author of A Long Shadow
Irreverent, authentic and utterly enthralling. A wonderful book. -- Jimmy McGovern, creator of Cracker
It's just AMAZING! It's totally gripping, hilarious, wise and poignant . . . -- Matt Lloyd Rose, author of Into the Night
An adventure story like no other . . . Nugent has a fine talent for storytelling, but also for capturing truth. Locks is both funny, and psychologically astute, and really captures the nuanced dynamic between boys pushed to their emotional and physical limits through hardship and misunderstanding. -- Lily Dunn, author of Sins of My Father
Book Information
ISBN 9781529097894
Author Ashleigh Nugent
Format Hardback
Page Count 352
Imprint Picador
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Weight(grams) 464g
Dimensions(mm) 225mm * 143mm * 35mm
