Heartland

by Anthony Cartwright

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It is Spring 2002, with local elections looming. A mosque is being built on the site where Cinderheath's iconic steelworks once dominated the town. 'The Tipton Three', from just down the road, are imprisoned in Guantanomo; the BNP expect to win new seats on the council. St. George's flags fly from cars and windows: the World Cup is beginning, England to play Argentina. But first, a controversial Sunday-league football game must take place, billed by the press as 'a match to spark a race war'.… (more)

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I bought this book on the basis of a glowing review in The Guardian. It's not bad but I can't say it lived up to the review. Set in and around Dudley (Britain's 'Heartland'), during the 2002 World Cup, it explores masculinity, English identity and racial conflict. All worthy stuff, but neither the plot nor the writing are quite strong enough. One of the main problems is the use of multiple narrative strands in the 3rd person, all intertwined: this means that names are constantly repeated as the author needs to remind the reader of who is featuring in a particular section. 'Rob said .... Adnan did ... Jim felt ... Jasmine realised .... Zubair went ... Glenn noticed ...' It all feels a bit stilted. Recounting large chunks of the England v Argentina match didn't help either. (

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blackhornet | Aug 29, 2009 |

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Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Shortlist – South Asia and Europe, Best Book – 2010)

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Heartland

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Heartland

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It is Spring 2002, with local elections looming. A mosque is being built on the site where Cinderheath's iconic steelworks once dominated the town. 'The Tipton Three', from just down the road, are imprisoned in Guantanomo; the BNP expect to win new seats on the council. St. George's flags fly from cars and windows: the World Cup is beginning, England to play Argentina. But first, a controversial Sunday-league football game must take place, billed by the press as 'a match to spark a race war'.

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