Featherweight

Annie Loveridge is the eldest daughter of the family. Following the death of her husband and with many children to support, her mother has no option but to sell Annie in order to survive. Annie is bought by Bill Perry a bare knuckle fighter and sometime boatman. Bill is a gentle giant who shows Annie love and care, but it is a hard life and Annie learns to fight to help pay the bills.
This story is set in the Midlands in the mid 19th century. The descriptive, historical details create a wonderfully atmospheric environment that bring alive the hardship and poverty of the time.
The narrative alternates between Annie's first person account and a third person narrative and the story itself is bracketed by a prologue and epilogue set in 1906 in America.
I enjoyed this book for the historical detail and the endearing characters. At first I found it rather slow paced but it did pick up after a while. I wasn't sure what the purpose of the prologue or epilogue was, they seemed to be superfluous and the story wouldn't have suffered for them not being there.
Overall it was an entertaining read.

I'm a huge fan of 'Sal', Mick Kitson's first book, and was curious to see how he would make the change to writing a historical novel.

Annie Perry is sold by her starving family to a drunken prizefighter, exchanging her Romi life for one in the increasingly industrialised town of Tipton. Annie is one of the few people unafraid of her adoptive father's fearsome strenght, and manages both him and the Champion of England, the alehouse he buys for his retirement. She learns to fight, training with Bill's friend, Janey, to become formidable performer. At the same time she demonstrates a capacity for learning, reading not only the Bible, but also the poems of Mr Wordsworth and Mr Rabbie Burns.

Annie and her adoptive family are vividly portrayed, and their love and loyalty to each other makes them very likeable. But equally vivid is the world they live in, with increasing industrialisation, civil unrest, strikes, the rich man in his castle, and the never-ending battle against dirt and grime from the polluting works. Like Sal, Annie is tough and resourceful, and she needs to be in a world where working people are exploited by the manufacturers, and starvation is a constant threat.. I'm not a fan of violence, and there is plenty of blood and gore in 'Featherweight', but it never feels gratuitous. Annie and her associates fight because it makes economic sense, and offers them independence.

The plot of the novel rattles along. It's a rags to riches story, with shades of Victorian melodrama and Penny Dreadfuls - there are wicked noblemen, family tragedies and even a highwaymen. I raced through the book, desparate to find out what would happen to Annie, but this is one of those deceptive books that leaves you with a lot to think about after you've finished. . I really enjoyed it, and can't wait to see what Mick Kitson writes next.