I was lucky enough to see Djamal White at Manchester Literature Festival and admired his tenacity in pursuit of his debut novel. I was a novel that submerged us into the less salubrious and well known parts of Dublin, a world of drugs, and criminality.
Did I like Tony his protagonist?? No, I found him just a little selfish, a loose cannon, his emotions always at the ready to run amok no matter the consequences. His past crimes had seen him flee to England and now he was back needing protection, always looking over his shoulder just in case.
Aengus Lavelle could provide that protection and under the watchful eye of Flute they do his dirty business, but then another side to the novel emerged one that was unique and unexpected. Tony was gay, Flute was gay, when they finally found themselves together would this be their saving grace a way out of the underworld they inhabited. I got the impression that for Flute it didn't matter but for Tony his sexuality was a closely guarded secret, one that threatened to wreck his hard fought masculinity which I found quite sad. His relationship with his Mum and brother was equally mixed and fraught and also sad, his willingness to risk them totally selfish.
For all its bleakness there were moments of happiness, of Tony feeling happy, of belonging but the ensuing last part of White's novel soon brought him back down to earth.
It was an ending that matched the emotion of the novel with its dramatics, his hold your breath moment and cemented my view that Djamal White is a novelist to watch.