Dylan Thomas Prize

 

The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize shortlist will be announced on Thursday 20 March followed by a shortlist celebration at the British Library on Wednesday 14 May (International Dylan Thomas Day).

I was kindly sent a copy of Pity by Andrew McMillan who is on the shortlist. 

Blurb

The town was once a hub of industry. A place where men toiled underground in darkness, picking and shovelling in the dust and the sleck. It was dangerous and back-breaking work but it meant something. Once, the town provided, it was important, it had purpose. But what is it now?Brothers Alex and Brian have spent their whole life in the town where their father lived and his father, too. Still reeling from the collapse of his personal life, Alex, is now in his middle age, and must reckon with a part of his identity he has long tried to mask. Simon is the only child of Alex and had practically no memory of the mines. Now in his twenties and working in a call centre, he derives passion from his side hustle in sex work and his weekly drag gigs. Set across three generations of South Yorkshire mining family, Andrew McMillan’s short and magnificent debut novel is a lament for a lost way of a life as well as a celebration of resilience and the possibility for change.

My Thoughts 

A new debut novel from the author 

This is a short read and can be read quickly. Different stories interwine all back to one down with different characters and plot. 

We get to meet and know lots if different characters and as much as we hear from them it is a quick read so we don't get a full deep dive on them. Nonetheless we know enough to see the plot through.