Bøger af Martin Andrews

For David Harris and David Jones - Rolf and Locker to their peers within the gang - it's a slow, easy and relaxing start to summer. After all, at sixteen and with exams behind them, that's what glorious weather should be about. So they take their time with football and Allevio, barely recognising that the world around them is shifting. Slowly, however, the subtle and overt pressures in their working class community become apparent, and grow by the day. Friendships are dissolving as adulthood beckons, gang members going their separate ways. Rolf's mother is ill and domestic finances are tight, and Locker is desperate to avoid baby-sitting duties. Together, they secure part-time work at the local department store, keen to see the rewards that money can buy. Closer to home, they find that Seth, the local villain, has his eyes set on robbery, a threat of violence mounting. With heads in the sand, Rolf and Locker initially brush off the danger, looking to the bright city lights and embarking on a quest for alcohol, girls and condoms. A run-in with the police and an unexpected invitation twist their fortunes - and their outlook - upside down. But when Mrs Harris becomes the victim of an unprovoked attack, they realise just how serious a problem they face. Can Rolf manage the situation with customary objectivity whilst dealing with his feelings for Lucy, the girl next door with the strange hair style? Will mild-mannered Locker be of any use at all? And can they trust Mr Simpson, rumoured to be the local pervert? Not Being Kids is a coming-of-age story of trust and friendship, threat and danger, risk, reward and love. Set in a tough working-class community of 1970s South Yorkshire, the story follows the adventures and experiences of two best friends trying to negotiate their individual and intertwined paths to adulthood. Through a series of comic, life-changing and ultimately tragic events, they must cope with their own problems and frailties, and learn how to deal with an increasingly complex and hostile world. Sunshine with probability of cloud.

David Harris is determined to put the recent past behind him, particularly the tragic loss of his mother in the autumn. Desperate to move on, he takes positive action and commits to three straightforward New Year resolutions: Get up promptly; Take in a lodger; Have proper sex with Lucy before the new school term begins.It's not too much to ask. Unfortunately for David Harris and friends, the challenges in their 1970s working class community are never far away. Things go wrong from the outset. The lodger might be gay, which seems to be a problem for Lucy and her father. And things go from bad to worse when posh-boy Peter blurts out a potentially deadly secret; the truth about how the local psychopath ended up behind bars. Ultimately, the story is a collision of sexuality and bigotry, friendship and hostility, trust and suspicion, love and revenge. Can David Harris finally find the happiness he deserves? Far more importantly, will he realise his New Year resolutions?Icicles and Valentines is the third in a series of novels from Martin Andrews. Each novel chronicles aspects of the complex and challenging transition from adolescence to adulthood. The stories overlap and are set against a tough, working-class backdrop.

Spare a thought for Gary Shackleton, a meek and mild school leaver with a violent father and a mother who won't speak. He lacks confidence and fears exclusion, and tries to conform in a world that frowns on being different. Lonely, victimised and depressed, with no vision of the future, he seeks sanctuary in a neighbour's garden shed. His troubles seem insurmountable; will he ever manage the transition from adolescence to adulthood? There is one glimmer of hope - a recently discovered grandfather who may offer solutions to his troubles. But his grandfather's health is failing and he may not stay the course. This is a story of self-discovery in a challenging environment; of personal growth in difficult circumstances. It is the story of an ordinary boy looking for a place in a complex, hostile world. Spare a Thought for Gary Shackleton is the second novel from Yorkshire-born author Martin Andrews. The timeline and events in this book overlap the storyline in Not Being Kids, his well-received first publication.

The life and work of Rena Gardiner, pre-eminent, Dorset based painter and printmaker.

An account of a significant development in the history of photography: the first commercial studio to mass-produce photographs, set up in Reading in 1843.