Martin, an underdog – and not a plucky one, engineers protection for himself at public school by becoming the best friend of one of the most popular boys there, Ben, and thence into the circles of the posh, privileged, powerful and – peripherally – political.
As we follow the friendship, the boy’s / mens’ other relationships and the fall out from Ben’s 40th Birthday Party, the plot is revealed from a pair of perspectives – Martin’s and that of his wife, Lucy.
From New York to London, and the lives of two south London 30-something couples with kids, centred on Crystal Palace where Melissa and Michael, Ria and Blake live at No. 13 Paradise Road, and where all is not well….
A series of snippets from interviews conducted by a music journalist in 2016 revolving around a short-lived 1970’s New York afro-punk-rock duo, Opal Jewel and Neville Charles.
Fiction that reads like fact, with in a few mysteries and a family connection thrown in to mix things up – it’s a great read.