Powder Monkey

by Karen Sainsbury

Set in deepest Somerset, this is the story of Keith, our hero, his brothers Tam and Cameron, his Da who is a sheep farmer, his Ma who wants to flee to Albania, and Arthur, the dysfunctional postman. It’s also the story of a dirty-minded milkman, and of Maria who is going out with Tam but who should be going out with Keith, and of Mrs Brownlow who has taken to mopping up the vomit outside The Griffin pub ever since Albert passed away. Keith knows he has to escape, and can’t keep sweeping up dead budgies from his neighbour’s aviary (his only form of income.) Scanning the night sky and drinking in The Griffin seem only to exacerbate the problem. But with no qualifications, no girlfriend and only his rusty old telescope and the nightly reports of the Mission To Mars probe on BBC2 to take him away from it all, Keith’s options look limited.

Hardcover

Published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Amanda Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book on the shelf of a great library in a holiday cottage near Land's End. From the get-go it drew me in and I could not stop reading. It is wonderful writing, with quirky dysfunctional characters and situations throughout. I'm now going to be buying it for a few people who I know will appreciate the dark humour and the voice of the main character. I was surprised when I finished that the author hadn't published another fiction book since (published 2002), and then was happy to discover on further research that she is Karen Jane Cannon, a well-known poet. I will definitely be seeking out some of her poetry books - and can only hope that she works on another novel. I'd love to know the next instalment in the lives of Keith et al.
(My reading was helped along the way by the highlights and margin-notes of a previous reader. I hope the notes I've written in books over the years may have done the same to their future readers.)