Keep It Dark

'Keep It Dark' might change the way you look back on the past. It is certainly a novel which defies genre. In 1964 when he is seven, Tommy sees his Uncle Jack sobbing copiously - and, as he grows up, spends the rest of his life finding out the reasons for Uncle Jack's tears. Tommy's odyssey takes him to Scotland, to Spain, to Poland and to Russia as he gradually peels away the layers of the past and discovers all that has been kept dark. He also learns about himself and copes with a tumultuous private life while piecing together his uncle's wartime experiences. This novel juxtaposes scenes from modern life in the UK with horrific descriptions of war in Spain, in Stalingrad during the Second World War, the Holocaust and then the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. But it is not a war story: it's about lost love, the past, politics, fatherhood, betrayal, memory and even language itself. The strength and endurance of the human spirit shines through. It is an ambitious pan-European novel packed with literary allusions, but it tells a very simple human story about love and loss, suffering and redemption, and human resilience in the face of evil. It's a serious novel, but full of humour and jokes, and is an emotive story of lives blighted by history and separation which works on different levels. The juxtapositions of the chapters from Tommy's life with those from the past throw up some interesting and unexpected parallels. The structure of the whole novel is unique - reminiscent of 'Catch 22' and 'Small Island' - but very different from either. As Tommy himself might put it, "If you wanna get technical, and believe me, sunshine, I always DO wanna get technical, this is a bildungsroman that turns out to be a kunstlerroman. Un-bleeding-believable!" Nominated for the Goldsmiths Prize 2013.