This is McMillan’s first prose work but it unsurprisingly retains a poetic sensibility. Every word considered, crafted, and placed with exacting economy.
Chapter by chapter you jump between past and present, between the first person narrators, and it took a few to tune into the ways this fabric weaved together.
Set, by turns, in a Pit Village / former Pit Village a context in which identity is both strong and contested – exploring queer identity in this setting even today is pushing a boundary, being Gay and Working Class remains largely invisible.
Being a miner was perhaps the most manly of expressions of masculinity, and now the mine is closed and Simon is a Drag Artist (and call centre worker / OnlyFans content creator) but his masculinity is undiminished.
This is no fairytale – there is pain and sorrow in these lives – stories of endurance, endurance against the odds.
More of this please Andrew…
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