The electrifying debut novel from Colwill Brown puts the lives of three working class girls from Doncaster centre stage as they try to negotiate school, sex and the trials and tribulations of getting their hands on booze and drugs. Kel and Shaz both come from single-parent families (Kel never knew her dad; Shaz mourns the early death of hers) and money for them is often tight. Rach meanwhile is better-off but often feels guilty about it. We first encounter the trio when they are aged 15 and heading to Sheffield, hoping to blag their way into the famed Gatecrasher club. The narrative then flips back and forth in time, which has the effect of adding a layer of poignancy to proceedings as we see the three begin to drift apart as they get older. What sets the novel apart from other coming-of-ages stories is Brown’s prose – exquisitely crafted in ‘Donny’ dialect –  which is full of vivid and sensory detail that makes the girls’ world feel incredibly real and immediate. She also brilliantly maps out the complex emotional landscapes of each of the protagonists with enormous sensitivity: these girls are real, flaws and all, and their struggles and small victories resonate on a profoundly human level. The author is a Donny lass herself and she brings real verisimilitude to the tale, so much so that the pages feel almost sticky with White Lightning and watermelon flavoured lip-gloss. ‘We Pretty Pieces of Flesh’ is one of the most exhilarating reads of the year. RM

Published by 

Chatto & Windus