Out of the Smoke

This is an impressive debut novel! Matthew Wainwright has written a gripping and fast paced story of life on the streets of Victorian London. The streets were crime ridden, dangerous places and we follow the life of Billy, a child chimney sweep who gets caught up in a criminal underworld. Gang warfare is rife and moral degeneracy the norm. Billy develops the thick-skin and pride of a fully initiated gang member and refuses help on more than one occasion from the 'Poor Man's Earl', Lord Shaftesbury. His criminality reaches new depths as he is persuaded to use his chimney climbing abilities for more sinister purposes. It is only when he makes the usually fatal mistake of forgetting his way out of the labyrinth of chimneys, that he is forced to make a life changing choice. With a tantalisingly vague ending we are left to assume that he made the right one.

The book finishes with a helpful factual section giving further details on Victorian London, a brief biography of Lord Shaftesbury and also a timeline of notable historical events that relate to the story.

Aimed at 12yrs+ this is a riveting, well researched and brilliantly written novel based on the work of the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury.

Out of the Smoke by Matthew Wainwright, published by Wakeman, £7.99

Check out the author on Instagram (Matthew Wainwright) - he publishes fun quizzes and other resources about his book on there.

A Holiday Attraction in Yorkshire

Last Saturday I paid another visit to the National Coal Mining Museum (www.ncm.org.uk), which has a splendid visitor centre and attracts a good tourist interest, if the numbers I saw then are anything to go by. However I was disappointed by the paucity of books on sale in the gift shop. The few there looked dry and uninspiring, and it seemed to me that they are missing a great opportunity. Surely there must be many more books on and around the mining industry and its social history for adults and children. And not only non-fiction but quality fiction too. I'm convinced it would add great value to the gift shop.
But it struck me that the NCM's location near Wakefield is only 4 miles away from the bookshop by road - we are on its doorstep, as it were. Hence a visit to the museum could be comfortably combined and enhanced with a visit here on the same day! And to continue the mining theme of the day, amongst our great range of titles, we have a little gem of a book for children called 'Pitfall!'

This is a wonderfully evocative book set in the industrial revolution with a lovely story of disaster and salvation - well told in a modern style. What makes it stand out are the abundant illustrations. The stark black and white artwork perfectly captures the grimness and grime of the times, and of the hard lot of children then. And the imagination is as powerfully stirred also by the depiction of the light of God's grace shining in a dark place.
As you may have gathered by now, I highly recommend it! Especially at £2.95.
So add the NCM + bookshop combination to your list of holiday must-sees when in Yorkshire, and you won't be disappointed.