Little Gold: Shortlisted for the Polari Prize for LGBT+ fiction
£1.10
‘Life affirming and triumphant’ Mark A. Radcliffe
‘Vivid and touching… this book left me haunted long after I put it down’ Umi Sinha
The heat is oppressive and storms are brewing in Brighton in the summer of 1982. Little Gold, a boyish girl on the brink of adolescence, is struggling with the reality of her broken family and a home descending into chaos. Her only refuge is the tree at the end of her garden.
Into her fractured life steps elderly neighbour, Peggy Baxter. The connection between the two is instant, but just when it seems that Little Gold has found solace, outsiders appear who seek to take advantage of her frail family in the worst way possible. In an era when so much is hard to speak aloud, can Little Gold share enough of her life to avert disaster? And can Peggy Baxter, a woman running out of time and with her own secrets to bear, recognise the danger before it’s too late?
‘A tender, beautifully paced and deeply moving debut… Little Gold herself is a wonderful centrepiece… and in Peggy Baxter, Rogers has offered up one of the most engaging heroines I have read in a very long time. This is a book about individual struggle that manages to be both life affirming and triumphant.’ Mark A. Radcliffe, author of Gabriel’s Angel
‘Such a wonderfully moving and atmospheric novel, full of very real and very touching relationships. A brilliant portrayal of the pain and wonder of leaving behind childhood, beautifully evocative of a Brighton summer in the 1980s.’ Catherine Hall, author of Days of Grace
‘Reminiscent of Scout Finch, Little Gold is a great addition to literature’s endearing child characters. Vivid, touching, sad and frightening, this book exposes the dark underbelly of 1980s Brighton and left me haunted long after I put it down.’Umi Sinha, author of Belonging
‘A gripping and yet tender novel, and the characters of Peggy Baxter and Little Gold are brilliantly handled. I was rooting for Little Gold from the start, and fascinated and moved by Peggy’s story. Brighton is so vividly depicted, too. It’s a great first novel.’ Bethan Roberts, author of My Policeman
‘Opening Allie Rogers’ Little Gold I found myself engrossed in a vibrant, moving tale of one family’s struggle to get by. This is a book about survival, about the pluck and power of a singular child and the fundamental importance of friendship.’ Alison Smith, author of Name All the Animals
‘Little Gold is a step back in time, into a rich world with complex characters on meaningful inner journeys that are quietly intriguing.’ Hannah Hohman, ForeWord Reviews
Read more
Additional information
| Publisher | Legend Press (2 May 2017) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 288 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1787199959 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1787199958 |
| Dimensions | 12.9 x 2.29 x 19.81 cm |
by LC
Little Gold is an astonishing debut from Brighton-based author Allie Rogers. It is intensely evocative of a childhood in 1980s Brighton – nice sparks of memory from mentions of Wagon Wheels, football stickers, perfectly-pitched period turns of phrase etc. – and draws the characters of Little Gold, her sister, brother and neighbour Peggy Baxter, with huge care and skill.
But what makes this book so re[book:Little Gold|32824973]markable is that it traces the friendship between a little girl on the cusp of adulthood – with all the bodily squeamishness and anxiety about who and what she is meant to be that that can entail – with an older gay woman who is ordering and making sense of a life lived well but which has had its heartbreaks. There is something very beautiful and believable in the way this relationship is drawn; Peggy Baxter possesses all the calm, wisdom and humanity that Little Gold needs from the adults around her – especially as a child who is growing up queer in a world where gender roles are so defined and unbending – but cannot find from her utterly absent father and her broken, alcoholic mother.
The secondary narrative – that of Peggy and her lover Vi – is plaited into Little Gold’s tale, contrasting Little Gold’s beginnings with their endings. They are vivacious, loving, full of wit and fondness, but they are not perfect or without folly. There’s nothing dramatic or sensational about their relationship: they just are who they are. There is such heart in them, such truth. They deserve to go down as one of the great queer couples in literature.
But Allie Rogers writes all her characters, not just the loveable ones, with compassion and nuance. The largely absent mother, devastated by her husband’s departure, is no monster, although she is capable of monstrous lack of care in her failure to notice what is going on with each of her three variously damaged children or in the rapid deterioration of her home. She is not damned or irredeemable, she is simply human. Her children love her even when they are furious or distressed.
Ultimately, Little Gold, despite the darkness of the family’s break-up, the chaos and grime of their surroundings and the wickedness of some of those that circle them, is about love. The importance and honour of being loved and loving other the human beings in one’s life. Not just romantic love – Vi and Peggy’s immense fondness for each other is well beyond romance – or familial love, but the care and kindness of one human being to another. Nothing more precious than that.
by Peri
This debut book is a total gem. It is moving and evocative with a wonderful lyrical language that has you caught in its flow from the first page. The characters quickly become real and you feel them living in head and I think they may take up residence in mine for quite a while.
On personal level this book resonated so much because in 1982, I was 15 and lived at Fiveways, shopped in the Co Op there and still used the park in the story. The author described it perfectly. Even without the trip down memory lane the story held my attention, I thought about the characters even when I wasn’t reading it and the subject matters covered are done so in a thought provoking way and in a couple of places I was so moved I had to stop reading as I was on my lunch break and didn’t want to blub at work.
I can’t wait to read more from this author and am recommending this book to all my book loving friends as a must read of 2017.
by DaleyDell
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, which was well written, and held my attention throughout, a charming tale – well other than the part about the girls brother
by jan
I loved this book. It is written with such a smooth flow and perfect pace and balance it’s hard to believe it is Allie Rogers’ first novel. Little Gold is 12 years old and living in Brighton in 1982. I was also a 12 year old in Brighton in 1982, but fortunately for me, our paths would never have crossed except perhaps at the Booth Museum. The book begins with someone visiting a new grave in the graveyard, and then follows Little Gold as her family suffers lots of difficulties and she makes a lovely friendship with a neighbour. And as the book goes on you realise it could be the grave of any of these people. It’s not a fluffy book, it’s poignant and tough and a bit haunting. Sometimes people say they don’t read fiction because they only like things that are true. Sometimes we can learn a lot of truth about people from stories.
by Nic
Allie Rogers’ writing has that remarkable ability to create characters you believe in so utterly that you miss them from your life once you have turned the final page. I was able to feel affinity with Little Gold as a child in Sussex myself in the 80s, references to Woolworths, to Brighton Pier, Preston Park, Wagon Wheels and school discos spirited me back in time while I got to know LG, her siblings and mother, Peggy Baxter, Vi and the other characters. Allie Rogers’ evocative writing style puts you so clearly in that time and place and space that you are no longer imagining or observing, you are actually present there.
I have enjoyed Allie’s short stories and flash fiction and eagerly awaited this first novel. Little Gold most certainly did not disappoint.
by Young one
I’d like everyone I know to read this book, it’s smart, creepy and really touching…..
by The Word Bird
This book was recommended by an eminent book reviewer. I cannot speak too highly of it. As a debut, it’s a gem. Moving, delightful & written in the kind of sweet language that attaches like a song. From the beginning, I fell in love with Little Gold. And then with the glorious Peggy Baxter who is possibly my favourite character of the year so far.
Believable child characters are a big ask & as Allie Rogers unfolds her story for us, she nails this one. Little Gold’s family is falling apart. Her mother is an alcoholic, her father has disappeared. In spite of her own demons, her big sister does her best. Little Gold’s older brother is also vulnerable. These are children learning how to survive, how to be brave. It’s a beautiful, bittersweet story marrying coming-of-age with end-of life & the setting – Brighton in the 80s – is perfectly observed. Highly recommended.