Southsiders - That's All Right: Jesse Garon #1

by Nigel Bird

Ray Spalding's had enough of his wife, Paula. He's left his home in Edinburgh's Southside and headed for Belfast. It's safer there.

Unknown to Ray, Paula's also had enough of him. She's not going back home. Not now, not ever.

Jesse Spalding wakes up one morning to find both his parents gone. And he can't tell anyone or he'll be taken into care.

As time passes and bills need paying, all Jesse can rely on are his wits, his friend Archie and his dad's 1950s record collection.

Southsiders is a powerful short novel that follows the spiralling fortunes of Ray and Jesse, pushing father and son to their limits while they struggle against the odds in the darker shadows of two of Britain's capital cities.

Genres: Fiction, Crime

194 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 5, 2014

About the author

Nigel Bird is the author of the Rat Pack series, The Shallows, the Southsiders series, In Loco Parentis, Smoke, Mr Suit and Dirty Old Town as well as a number of other novels, novellas and collections.

His work has appeared in a number of prestigious magazines and collections, including 2 editions of The Best Of British Crime,The Reader, Crimespree and Needle.

He is currently an editorial consultant for the publisher All Due Respect books.

He lives on the East Coast of Scotland in Dunbar (Sunny Dunny) with his wife and three children.

As well as writing fiction, he has been a teacher for thirty years and has worked in a number of mainstream and special schools.

Reviews

[Rebecca Gransden · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young boy, Jesse, is raised in a tumultuous household in Scotland. One day he discovers that after years of mistreatment by his mother, his father has left for Belfast to clear his head and perhaps find new work. It so happens that on the very same day, his troubled mother leaves the family home, resentful of her husband. Jesse is left to fend for himself, and fearing that he’ll be taken away from the family, decides to try to hide his situation for as long as possible. With money running low he turns to his father’s beloved record collection. Assembled over many years and containing rare releases he reluctantly pawns a particularly sought after and valuable selection.

Music plays a pivotal role in this short first instalment of the Southsiders series. Love of early rock & roll is a shared interest between the father and son, and acts as a means for them to have a common interest, as well as representing for both of them a freer way of living. The conflicted feelings Jesse experiences when, due to desperation, he is forced to put his father’s collection in jeopardy are well portrayed. A young son’s loyalty to his parents despite their considerable flaws is brought into focus. Jesse struggles with conflicted feelings—understanding the reasons behind his father being so beaten down but also craving for him to stand up for him himself, and by extension defend his son’s interests also.

A novel that visits the grim realities ordinary people can face, where abuse and neglect sometimes go unchallenged until the inevitable grave consequences result. Bird successfully draws a nuanced portrayal of damaged and overwhelmed people unable to outrun themselves. The intervention of various side characters adds a sense of a larger world for Jesse, and help create a contrasting tone in the narrative. There are some old-fashioned attitudes sprinkled throughout, but this is in keeping with the characters represented.

Overall, a touching attempt to grapple with the grit of downtrodden lives.

[Paul Brazill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scottish teenager Jesse Garon wakes up one day and finds a note on the fridge from his father saying that he has left home to get work in Belfast. Later that day, Jesse gets an email from his alcoholic mother telling him that she has also left home. So Jesse is forced to fend for himself.

That’s All Right is the first of Nigel Bird’s Southsiders books. There are three novellas in all. This is a great slice of kitchen sink drama that is full of well-drawn and sympathetic characters. That’s All Right is touching as well as gritty and I look forward to reading the next in the series.

[Warren Stalley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first came across the author Nigel Bird in the ebook anthology True Brit Grit. Being curious I decided to investigate more of his work. Southsiders (That’s All Right) is a short yet emotional novella following the fortunes of Jesse Spalding and his soft-hearted dad Ray. After yet another domestic bust-up Ray walks out on his abusive wife Paula, regretfully leaving his son Jesse behind. As Ray flies off to Belfast, his doesn’t realise that Paula has also walked out thinking Ray is the one left behind with Jesse. This leaves Jesse fighting to survive on his own without school or the authorities finding out about his desperate situation. Told from twin points of view (Ray and Jesse) Nigel Bird delivers a powerfully emotional and tragic story with a cliff hanger ending that begs for a sequel. Crucially it’s the father/son relationship between Ray and Jesse which really is the narrative core to Southsiders lifting it above other works of fiction. To summarise this is a refreshing piece of work for any curious reader wanting some heartfelt fiction with a rock and roll flavour. Another winner from Mr Bird and Blasted Heath publishing. If you enjoy Southsiders I would also recommend In Loco Parentis by the same author, a story that mixes love, lust and teaching with murder!

[Kath Middleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Jesse Spalding is the sort of child you’d be proud of. He’s grown up with the constant warring of his parents, often resulting in physical violence from his mother to his father. Eventually, they both decide they’ve had enough and leave home. Each thinks the other is still there to look after Jesse. He has to fall back on his own resourcefulness to manage to eat and pay the rent on his parents’ flat. His best friend Archie comes to his rescue on a number of occasions with food and money. His father goes to Belfast to find work, living with an old friend for whom life isn’t a dream either.

This was a short but very engaging novel about a young man who finally found that coping by himself was preferable to living with constant fights in a filthy and unkempt home. I enjoyed it very much. If I had to pick a fault it was that I could happily have read a great deal more!

[Loretta · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favourite character was Jesse although I felt so sorry for him because both his parents are losers! I loved Jesse's spunk and intelligence, what a great kid. I did not like his parents and that is putting it mildly.
The primary reason I enjoyed this novella is all the characters elicited an emotional response, whether good, bad, angry, or sad and that to me is good writing and a book worth reading.

Please note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Chris Rhatigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review upcoming in All Due Respect Issue 5.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

good story

[Lexie Conyngham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did like young Jesse and his fight for independence from his awful mother and shilpit, abused father. I look forward to finding out what happens to him next.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s much to like about Nigel Bird’s Southsiders. It has a great set-up -- a kid hooked on 50s R&B abandoned by both parents and trying to survive on his own; a nicely drawn set of characters; and engaging prose that manages to be tough and warm-hearted. I was thoroughly engaged with and entertained by the story and then it just stopped. If Southsiders is part of a series then I can see the logic of drawing the first instalment to a close. The issue for me was the point of closure was too early, with only one element closed, admittedly a key one, but all the others left open. In other words, I didn’t feel we’d got to the end of Act One and moreover I really wanted Act Two there and then as I needed to know how the elements of the first act got resolved - basically Southsiders is a novella that, in my view, would have been more satisfying as a full novel. Overall, then, a well told but truncated tale.

[Rory Costello · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story has quite a few strengths. First is its warm heart, which can also be seen in another recent book of Nigel Bird's, "How to Win a Sweetheart". The central father-and-son pairing engages your sympathy. The character of "Uncle" Tony Fish the pawnbroker is Dickensian -- he's worthy of his own story.

Overall, though, the story could have been fortified more in places. At least one subplot ended abruptly. Also bear in mind that this is part of a series.

[Allan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really for me to be honest. I read this straight after Escobar Walker's Bowling Ball and found Southsiders rather dull and slow by comparison.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book how ever I do wish the author had done more to make it more interesting. I look forward to reading more of this author's work.