Despite being a short novel (less than 200 pages), this was impactful and provocative.

Taking an experimental approach, with different narrative perspectives, styles and typefaces, the reader is exposed to a town (Barnsley) defined by its now defunct coal mines and a tragedy that befell it some years prior.

We get the perspective of three generations of men - grandfather Brian who worked down the mines, his sons Alex and Brian who grew up in the shadow of (though were largely unaware of) the mines but still affected by the fallout of their closure and the accident, and grandson Simon who has a burgeoning career in drag with regular club appearances and a sideline OnlyFans page.

What defines a town and who gets to tell its story? What is community and how does a community move on from tragedy? What impact do traditional male values have on expression of self, sexuality and identity? All of these and more are explored in this interesting and beautifully written little political novel that’s tipped to feature on prize lists. Thought-provoking and memorable. 4/5⭐️

*Many thanks to Canongate books for the arc via Netgalley. As always, this is an honest review.

This was unlike anything I’ve ever read. The descriptions of three generations of men are written and interweaved so beautifully, and it’s the prose that deals with queerness and the older characters that really stood out for me.

Simon’s family has lived in the former mining town of Barnsley for generations. He has a day job in a call centre, but his OnlyFans and drag artist side hustles are his creative outlets. His boyfriend Ryan is a security guard who wants to join the police. His father, Alex, a former miner, struggles to relate to his son. His uncle, Brian, also a former miner, is taking part in a university research project about the town’s history. This is the cast of characters, and identity, community, legacy and continuity are the broad themes of this slim but impactful volume, written with delicacy, subtlety and restraint. Although there is a narrative arc, it’s not perhaps a novel in a conventional sense – maybe more a series of linked vignettes – but Pity is very readable, clover and thought-provoking (and the cover design is absolutely inspired).

Pity examines the concept of masculinity in the ex-coal mine towns left without purpose or direction. Focusing on the father and sons relationship of three generations.
Exploring the hidden aspects of the men's identities, Pity examines how we choose to survive in a world where the rules, expectations and opportunities are changing.

Beautifully crafted and interspersed with a 'documentary' narrative for a contemporary twist.

Short but packed with narrative beauty.

The author of this book is the son of the poet Ian McMillan and is also recognised as an award winning poet in his own right so it isn’t surprising that this can be described as a poetic novel, if not an ode. The object of praise is the Yorkshire town of Barnsley, destroyed by the death of the mining industry and struggling to find some sense of identity, along with the miners who once worked in the pits.

The story revolves around two brothers, Brian and Alex, and Alex’s son, Simon. Alex is trying to come to terms with his homosexuality in middle-age and Simon is trying to make money as a drag artist. The past and the present are elegantly linked with recollections of life in the pit in the 1970s contrasted with Simon’s ‘Margaret Thatcher’ act in the present.

As you might expect from a poet, Andrew McMillan writes extremely well with a sparse, insightful and expressive tone. The interspersed construction of the story is also elegantly done, as is the relationship between Alex and Simon.

It’s a short novel but a rewarding read. It’s anyone’s guess as to how many copies Waterstones will shift in Barnsley but it ought to be more than a few!

Probably an ideal selection for any LGBTQ+ reading groups -- this short novel (only 130 pages, with plenty of white space between paragraphs) blends brevity, lyricism and grit to tell the story of three men across three generations of the same South Yorkshire family, looking at their different relationships to masculinity and sexuality through the lens of their working-class identities.

Stylistically it owes a debt to the novels of Max Porter, and structurally it's an assembled-fragment-novel, the form used so well in 'Assembly' by Natasha Brown and 'No One is Talking About This' by Patricia Lockwood;
which in part seems to have become so popular after the radical stringency of Annie Ernaux's memoirs. McMillan isn't quite on the same level as these novels, his writing not always as precise or impactful, and his tone of voice a little more limited, but he manages his time periods and sense of characters well.

For queer readers there's much to enjoy here in how McMillan writes about drag, not with Wilde-ish aestheticism, but with grit and discomfort - a sort of Ken Loach dirty realism - making it feel relatable and inhabited, and making clear parallels to the 'drag act' of masculinity.

While I would have liked a little more variation in the style, which at times feels constricted and slightly repetitive in the moods it evokes and the way it portrays the characters, this is still an involving, quick read that will have an impact and give readers something to debate, both in terms of its writing and its subject matter.

Beautiful story wonderfully written and compelling in its use of language. Three generations in a working-class mining town and meditations from within and without the community make this a very compelling read.

Though a short novel, Pity is magnificently profound and a triumph of story-telling art. Even with its complex structure and multiple narratives, it ultimately manages to provide emotional fulfilment to its reader.

Narrated through short snippets or vignettes, this concise 100-page novel centres on a drag queen from Barnsley who embodies the persona of Margaret Thatcher.

Themes of queer guilt, identity, mining disasters, and drag as both an art form and a form of protest or commentary intersect throughout the narrative. In a society where effigies of Thatcher were burned upon her death, the novel prompts readers to contemplate the implications of dressing up as her. Does it show respect for those who suffered under her policies, or does it glamorize or trivialize her impact? The protagonist, Simon, or Putanna as she is known in drag, straddles the intersection of being gay and hailing from a mining family, adding layers of complexity to the exploration of these themes.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

I was initially interested in 'Pity' due to its subject - former mining towns (with it being the 40th anniversary of the Miner's Strike) and sexuality. It was even better than expected. It took me a second to get used to the structure of this book, but once I had it was fantastic; offering us short yet powerful glimpses into the lives of Alex, Ryan, Brian, Simon, and others. Beautifully and poetically written

This book is short, less than 200 pages, but there is not a word wasted. Highly recommend.

Having lived in South Yorkshire for the last 40 years I'm very aware of the different narratives around mines/miners and the impact of the strikes and the Thatcher government Refreshingly, , this short novel gave perspective from areas I was less familiar with, particularly a more contemporary view through the eyes of a young gay man reflecting his life and that of his father.
I did find the 3 viewpoints and rather disjointed style quite difficult however, particularly the academics who I personally just found irritating but maybe that was the point.
Seen as a whole though I found this a really interesting and moving read
Thank you to netgalley and Canongate for an advance copy of this book.

A short but luscious book following three generations in the North of England. As a queer person from the North, this book was perfect. The connections the multitude of perspectives had to the town were well-developed and thoughtful. The drag and mining community are thrust into the spotlight, an aspect of the novella which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. That said, I would have preferred slightly more pages in order to fulfil the ambition that this work has.

I'm from Yorkshire who grew up during the miners strike. I am a daugther of a miner, a sister of a miner, a niece and a cousin of miners (Ex miners that is).

I was part of this world that the author writes about and expected to be emotionally invested in this story.

It is beautifully written and evocative, the pages scattered with sentences that make you stop and think. So many parts pulled me back to my childhood, the sense of place portrayed well.

But overall it felt distant and disjointed to me. For something that should have felt deeply personal, I unfortunately didn't connect with.

A town that was once a thriving mining community is now neglected with little prospect of any improvement visible. Told through three generations of the same family, a grandfather who was a miner, his sons who had to cope with his death in a mining incident and his grandson, Simon, who uses Margaret Thatcher as part of his drag act and whilst not having any personal recollection of the strikes, knew the affect that the Tory government had on the town. The town that at times seemed to be ridiculed by outsiders such as football pundits when the local team played top six teams.
I found the account of the miner, Brian, the most fascinating. Very short and more or less identical they showed how mundane life was, day in and day out. People leaving their homes to go down the pit. It was always the last part of these that I found slightly intimidating because they showed the danger faced daily. My family were miners in South Yorkshire and I could imagine them feeling exactly the same way.
I enjoyed Pity even though it wasn’t quite liked I expected it to be.

This took me a bit longer than it should have to make sense of the three different perspectives and characters but when it had clicked, I could not put this book down and raced through it. What an incredible story that is told through three different eras and generations in the same town, celebrating the strength of people, hiding your true self whilst celebrating community and belonging. A short but powerful read.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book with no obligation to review.

I did enjoy reading this but I found it rather bitty and undeveloped in places. For me, the most memorable bits are the sections which describe the miners going to work, these are similar but not exactly the same so the author captures the routine of the dreadful working life of miners but also the underlying (pun intended) danger. There is a strong poeticisim and rhythm to these passage and I know now that the author is a poet. The revelation about Pat and Frank and Skip etc., at the end of the book is heart breaking. You only saw glimpses but you felt you knew these men..

There are also some horribly descriptive passages about the actual, awful job and conditions and to think that in the 1980s some people (usually those in the south who knew nothing about the mines or the lives of these communities) thought miners were overpaid! I remember the strikes and the terrible effect the closures had and indeed still have on small communities. It was a hard life but they at least had a job, traditions and dignity and that was all swept away and replaced by the dole.

For the purposes of raising the awareness of younger readers I thought there might have been more info on the role of non local police. It is touched upon only lightly but I suppose further information is not really what the book is about. I would say it is largely about masculinity and attitudes through the years which is interesting but less original than concentrating more on the miners.

Simon and Ryan are sympathetic enough characters but nothing we haven't read before. I didnt quite see the point of the people from the university although some of it was interesting enough and it served to show the disconnect between the study and the lived experience.

I think I would certainly read some of the book again and it might well be the sort of book which benefits from re-reading.

What a remarkable debut novel from poet Andrew McMillan. It might not be that long but it certainly packs in a great deal: family, community, sexuality, politics, tragedy. And yet despite the sadness and despair, there’s a real sense of hope for a better future at the end. Told through various points of view - reports from researchers, poetic reflections on the past, commentary and prose as we follow the generations of men in their lives today - this novel had me absolutely absorbed. Having grown up in Yorkshire, I really got a sense of the communities and the way these industrial towns have been seen and portrayed through time.
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Cannongate for an arc in exchange for a review.

For such a short novel this is very layered and develops a lot of complex themes.

The sense of place is portrayed well deftly evoking a detailed immersion into this Yorkshire town for the reader. Barnsley was definitely another character in this book as McMillan explores identity as one of his themes. We are taken on a parallel journey into what shapes the identity of a town and equally how our characters are reconciled (or not) to express who they really are.

The discussion about history was of particular interest to me. How history is oppressive, hard to break free from and prejudices judgements. History is subjective. True freedom comes from acknowledging what has happened in our past, both good and bad and reshaping it making new commentary and paths to a different future.

The mining passages in this novel were beautiful and poetic. The references to Thatcher and the effects of the 80s politics particularly on the north having repercussions forty years later, was powerfully shown. The characters were interesting and nuanced. There was a lot packed into this novel and for me not all of it was fully developed and could have been taken further giving us more to the stories of the lives in this book. But this was impressive and will leave me with plenty of food for thought.

This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

Pity by Andrew McMillan is a vivid and multilayered debut novel. The story explores the lives of three generations of a South Yorkshire mining family who after tragedy and the collapse of the coaling industry must ask what do we have? Brothers Alex and Brian spent their working lives in the darkness of the underground digging for coal as the generations before them but now they are confronted with a changing landscape and community. Alex now in middle age has been hiding a part of his identity his whole life, his son Simon who has little recollection of the mines works in a call centre to make ends meet but finds true inspiration in the performance of his drag shows and sex work. The novel tenderly explores the powerful and painful impact of secrets, solitude, sexuality and grief in a changing world. It is a beautiful, refreshing and ambitious novel that alternates between perspectives and writing styles to explore these different themes. The novel for me wonderfully captured the disconnect and painful love between generations who grow up in vastly transformed environments. I wish certain chapters had been expanded more for instance the lyrical, reflective prose of labour in the underworld and would have loved to have spent more time with the brothers in their youth witnessing how they were shaped by grief and grit. Overall this is a compelling and compassionate novel of contemporary fiction from a writer I am excited to read more from 3.75 stars ✨.

So beautifully written, so heartfelt and so fantastic.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.