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Peterdown
WINNER OF THE McKITTERICK PRIZE 2022'Madcap, hugely rich and entertaining' GQ'Enjoyable, deft and humorous' The Times'Entertaining, acute and remarkably prescient' TLS'A book from the psychic fault-lines of 21st Century Britain . . . simultaneously down to earth and epic' Johny Pitts, author of AfropeanPeterdown, an industrial town with a noble past and a lacklustre present, has been chosen as the regional hub of Britain's first state-of-the-art bullet train network. High Speed+ promises the town a prosperous future but to make way for the new station, a local landmark will be have to be razed to the ground. On the shortlist are the Larkspur housing estate, a significant modernist masterpiece; and the Chapel, the beloved home of the town's football team. Local sports reporter Colin is as desperate to save the Chapel as his architect partner Ellie is determined to save the Larkspur, and they soon find themselves leading increasingly passionate and opposing campaigns. Out of this spins an epic, wide-angle novel, rich with character and incident. Affairs are embarked upon. Conspiracies are uncovered. A broad-based popular insurgency ignites. Peterdown is a riotous novel that brings England's beleaguered streetscape to life and finds lurking there a playful and storied mad monks and machine breakers, avant-gardists and non-conformists
- GenresFiction
684 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 6, 2021
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144 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 5, 2021
High speed rail is coming to the north of England and Peterdown has been chosen as its splitter hub. The only thing left to decide is where to put the station. Three options are on the table - The Larkspur, a brutalist housing estate hated by much of the town but culturally and architecturally significant; The Generator, a multi-million pound, largely unused arts centre; or The Chapel, beloved home of Peterdown United FC and the heart of the community.
We follow Colin, sports reporter for the local paper and a son of the town, and his partner Ellie, a London-born architect dragged to Peterdown by its lure of cheap housing after the birth of their child. Colin can't bare the prospect of the club he loves being shunted out of town - but the millionaire owner would happily see a new stadium and all the opportunities that might bring. Ellie, meanwhile, sees the Larkspur as her salvation, a rescue mission not just for the forgotten female architect who designed it, but for her own career, stalled as it has been by motherhood and Peterdown.
But there are dark forces at play behind the scenes in this brilliantly imagined post-industrial town. A cast of characters will come to the fore, all with their own agendas and their own plans for Peterdown... and very few of them have the town and its history at the the front of their thoughts.
This spectacular epic of modern Britain may be based in a fictional town but the characters and the landscape will be familiar to many. Annand uses Peterdown and its inhabitants to explore our shifting attitudes to class, community, belonging and each other. This is the beating heart of one British town laid bare in all of its dysfunctional beauty. It is a contemporary kitchen-sink drama for the ages - there are so many lines and characters and threads that Alan Sillitoe would have been proud of.
Annand has produced a novel of rare, moving power that I will not forget in a long, long time. As well as being about class and identity and money and power, it is also, unashamedly, that mythical, near-impossible thing - Peterdown is the great football novel.
We follow Colin, sports reporter for the local paper and a son of the town, and his partner Ellie, a London-born architect dragged to Peterdown by its lure of cheap housing after the birth of their child. Colin can't bare the prospect of the club he loves being shunted out of town - but the millionaire owner would happily see a new stadium and all the opportunities that might bring. Ellie, meanwhile, sees the Larkspur as her salvation, a rescue mission not just for the forgotten female architect who designed it, but for her own career, stalled as it has been by motherhood and Peterdown.
But there are dark forces at play behind the scenes in this brilliantly imagined post-industrial town. A cast of characters will come to the fore, all with their own agendas and their own plans for Peterdown... and very few of them have the town and its history at the the front of their thoughts.
This spectacular epic of modern Britain may be based in a fictional town but the characters and the landscape will be familiar to many. Annand uses Peterdown and its inhabitants to explore our shifting attitudes to class, community, belonging and each other. This is the beating heart of one British town laid bare in all of its dysfunctional beauty. It is a contemporary kitchen-sink drama for the ages - there are so many lines and characters and threads that Alan Sillitoe would have been proud of.
Annand has produced a novel of rare, moving power that I will not forget in a long, long time. As well as being about class and identity and money and power, it is also, unashamedly, that mythical, near-impossible thing - Peterdown is the great football novel.
August 14, 2021
A darkly funny and thought provoking social satire, it's not a heartwarming read but I laughed and reflected.
Good storytelling and plot development.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Good storytelling and plot development.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
July 17, 2025
A bit mundane but a nice easy read whilst my brain is melting.
August 1, 2024
a hefty novel (nearly 600 pages!) detailling what life would be like for a former-industrial town when hyper-modernisation hits.
centred around the arrival of HS+ (ostensibly HS2), the town struggles to welcome the change, holding firm to their past: places, structures, values, symbols. the modernisation that is arriving is unpleasant: driven by money, corruption, bribes, mistrust.
despite the wonderfully descriptive writing, the novel lacks character depth. honestly, the description mainly just centres around food, not people. the plot twists become hard to follow and revelations come too often to be impactful. frustrating at (many) points.
centred around the arrival of HS+ (ostensibly HS2), the town struggles to welcome the change, holding firm to their past: places, structures, values, symbols. the modernisation that is arriving is unpleasant: driven by money, corruption, bribes, mistrust.
despite the wonderfully descriptive writing, the novel lacks character depth. honestly, the description mainly just centres around food, not people. the plot twists become hard to follow and revelations come too often to be impactful. frustrating at (many) points.
November 7, 2021
Peterdown is your archetypical left-behind place. With the town's railway works a thing of the past and the vaunted Generator cultural centre a damp squib, The Chapel - the home of the town's football club - is the centre of the action. Until a proposal emerges for Peterdown to be the centre of the new high-speed rail network - a proposal that will involve demolishing one of the Generator, the Chapel or the Larkspur, a brutalist housing estate.
Left behind places, regeneration and social housing are the venn-diagram of my professional (and often personal) interests. If you swapped the railways for shipyards, Peterdown could be my home town. So I was always going to enjoy Peterdown...
...and I did. But not quite as much as I hoped. It's an ambitious novel - nearly 600 pages of football, politics and relationships. It's a great story and it scratches beneath some of the big issues faced by post-industrial towns and their people.
The novel does this in a lightly satirical way, but one which deploys every stereotype going. There's Colin, the Nick Hornby-esque local football correspondent, his partner Ellie the architect from London; the 'British Obama' local MP Pankaj Shastry (the most thinly-veiled Chuka Umunna you'll ever meet), Kerry the Karen Brady-esque football club executive, I could go on.
Even the buildings are thin pastiches of what exists elsewhere - The Larksmere is Sheffield's Park Hill with Gateshead's Get Carter carpark's unused cafe grafted on top. The Generator is eerily reminiscent of West Bromwich's 'The Public'. If you've read any Owen Hatherley in the last decade, you'll get the picture.
I found this grating. I think the issues being explored - and Annand's core story - deserved better; either that, or go the whole Jonathan Coe carry-on farce. This fell someway between the two for me.
Nevertheless, I'd say it's worth a read - it's well-observed and I raced through 600 pages pretty swiftly. ⭐⭐⭐ from me.
Left behind places, regeneration and social housing are the venn-diagram of my professional (and often personal) interests. If you swapped the railways for shipyards, Peterdown could be my home town. So I was always going to enjoy Peterdown...
...and I did. But not quite as much as I hoped. It's an ambitious novel - nearly 600 pages of football, politics and relationships. It's a great story and it scratches beneath some of the big issues faced by post-industrial towns and their people.
The novel does this in a lightly satirical way, but one which deploys every stereotype going. There's Colin, the Nick Hornby-esque local football correspondent, his partner Ellie the architect from London; the 'British Obama' local MP Pankaj Shastry (the most thinly-veiled Chuka Umunna you'll ever meet), Kerry the Karen Brady-esque football club executive, I could go on.
Even the buildings are thin pastiches of what exists elsewhere - The Larksmere is Sheffield's Park Hill with Gateshead's Get Carter carpark's unused cafe grafted on top. The Generator is eerily reminiscent of West Bromwich's 'The Public'. If you've read any Owen Hatherley in the last decade, you'll get the picture.
I found this grating. I think the issues being explored - and Annand's core story - deserved better; either that, or go the whole Jonathan Coe carry-on farce. This fell someway between the two for me.
Nevertheless, I'd say it's worth a read - it's well-observed and I raced through 600 pages pretty swiftly. ⭐⭐⭐ from me.
June 30, 2021
Beautiful. Simply beautiful. Through the microcosm of this novel's eponymous town, David Annant pointedly (but also sometimes lovingly) explores all that is 21st-century Britain, with its addiction to nostalgia, cheap consumerism, rapacious developers, shady foreign investors, elected charlatans, and the ordinary people so often stuck in the middle.
November 15, 2021
Blurb
Peterdown, an industrial town with a noble past and a lacklustre present, has been chosen as the regional hub for a soon-to-be-built, ultra-high-speed railway line. The development promises to propel Peterdown headlong into a prosperous future; but in order to get there, something from the landscape of Peterdown's past will have to be demolished. On the shortlist are the Larkspur Hill housing estate, a significant modernist landmark, and the Chapel, the raucous home of the town's football team, Peterdown United. Ellie Ferguson, an architect exiled from London, is as determined to save the Larkspur as her partner, Colin, a lifelong United fan, is desperate to save the Chapel. As they each find themselves leading increasingly passionate and opposing campaigns, their essential differences become hard to ignore.
Out of this spins an epic, wide-angle novel, rich with character and incident. Affairs are embarked upon. Conspiracies are uncovered. A broad-based popular insurgency ignites. Peterdown brings England's beleaguered streetscape to life and finds lurking there a playful and storied counterculture: mad monks and machine breakers, avant-gardists and non-conformists.
Full of warmth, comedy, character and anarchic radicalism, Peterdown is an ambitious tale about work and play, community and place, and how, ultimately, we might live in the face of history.
My thoughts
I must admit that when I received my book, I was slightly alarmed by the sheer size of it, but I am glad that this didn’t put me off from reading this topical, thought-provoking social satire.
This is by no means a read in one sitting, stay up late to get it finished book, but a time taking, what would you do in their position read. What kept me reading and I even want to say that I loved, was the sense of community that was ingrained within both the book and the characters. At times I was completely behind one character, but then a found myself in allegiance with a completely different character! My loyalties were all over the place!
Do I recommend this book? A most definite yes, this really is a brilliantly satirical book. It really does manage to encompass everything about 21st century Britain into just under 600 pages, albeit very tongue in cheek and with a warmth that is sometimes hard to find in a novel of this genre.
Thank you to Vic @instabooktours, @corsair @majorwroth for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
Peterdown, an industrial town with a noble past and a lacklustre present, has been chosen as the regional hub for a soon-to-be-built, ultra-high-speed railway line. The development promises to propel Peterdown headlong into a prosperous future; but in order to get there, something from the landscape of Peterdown's past will have to be demolished. On the shortlist are the Larkspur Hill housing estate, a significant modernist landmark, and the Chapel, the raucous home of the town's football team, Peterdown United. Ellie Ferguson, an architect exiled from London, is as determined to save the Larkspur as her partner, Colin, a lifelong United fan, is desperate to save the Chapel. As they each find themselves leading increasingly passionate and opposing campaigns, their essential differences become hard to ignore.
Out of this spins an epic, wide-angle novel, rich with character and incident. Affairs are embarked upon. Conspiracies are uncovered. A broad-based popular insurgency ignites. Peterdown brings England's beleaguered streetscape to life and finds lurking there a playful and storied counterculture: mad monks and machine breakers, avant-gardists and non-conformists.
Full of warmth, comedy, character and anarchic radicalism, Peterdown is an ambitious tale about work and play, community and place, and how, ultimately, we might live in the face of history.
My thoughts
I must admit that when I received my book, I was slightly alarmed by the sheer size of it, but I am glad that this didn’t put me off from reading this topical, thought-provoking social satire.
This is by no means a read in one sitting, stay up late to get it finished book, but a time taking, what would you do in their position read. What kept me reading and I even want to say that I loved, was the sense of community that was ingrained within both the book and the characters. At times I was completely behind one character, but then a found myself in allegiance with a completely different character! My loyalties were all over the place!
Do I recommend this book? A most definite yes, this really is a brilliantly satirical book. It really does manage to encompass everything about 21st century Britain into just under 600 pages, albeit very tongue in cheek and with a warmth that is sometimes hard to find in a novel of this genre.
Thank you to Vic @instabooktours, @corsair @majorwroth for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
October 6, 2021
🌸Book Tour Peterdown by David Annand🌸
Peterdown is an industrial town that is due to have a new railway line but this will mean that either the Larkspur housing estate, the Chapel Peterdown United’s home ground or The Generator, the council’s flagship regeneration project would have to be demolished. Ellie and Colin have a strained relationship which isn’t helped by their opposing views on which building should be saved. Ellie is a passionate supporter of The Larkspur and campaigns to make it a listed building, whilst Colin goes to desperate lengths camping out in protest to save his beloved football ground.
I really enjoyed following Ellie and Colin’s relationship especially when local MP Pankaj gets involved. Pankaj’s character changes significantly through the book initially posing as Ellie’s saviour and later becoming rather self obsessed.
My loyalties changed as I read the book swinging from siding with Ellie and then Colin.
Not a quick read at 595 pages but I loved reading about the community and the passion they felt to stand up for the buildings they loved. Also must comment on how great the amazing cover is. Thank you @instabooktours @corsair @majorwroth for the chance to be part of this book tour. AD-PR product.
Peterdown is an industrial town that is due to have a new railway line but this will mean that either the Larkspur housing estate, the Chapel Peterdown United’s home ground or The Generator, the council’s flagship regeneration project would have to be demolished. Ellie and Colin have a strained relationship which isn’t helped by their opposing views on which building should be saved. Ellie is a passionate supporter of The Larkspur and campaigns to make it a listed building, whilst Colin goes to desperate lengths camping out in protest to save his beloved football ground.
I really enjoyed following Ellie and Colin’s relationship especially when local MP Pankaj gets involved. Pankaj’s character changes significantly through the book initially posing as Ellie’s saviour and later becoming rather self obsessed.
My loyalties changed as I read the book swinging from siding with Ellie and then Colin.
Not a quick read at 595 pages but I loved reading about the community and the passion they felt to stand up for the buildings they loved. Also must comment on how great the amazing cover is. Thank you @instabooktours @corsair @majorwroth for the chance to be part of this book tour. AD-PR product.
October 11, 2021
Beware this book is gigantic and it’s not one you can read in a day or two. It requires a lot of attention and focus but one you will be glad you’ve given it so much of your time.
It’s an unusual read and not one I would usually go for. But I found myself enjoying it more and more at every chapter I completed. I suppose it’s a very it’s life topic and one we probably don’t give enough thought to. Although centralised around a railway station. It’s because of this that two main characters really shine and you get familiar with the reasons for and against these and the different levels of passion for what they stand by.
This book is extremely British in so many ways. The author has done an exceptional job at pulling together a story that would suit a majority of readers. I was extremely appreciative to get the chance to read something I wouldn’t usually pick of the shelf. There was so many conspiracy theories that were incorporated in to the wording which left a stamp in my mind. This definitely gives you a lot to think about when you complete.
It’s an unusual read and not one I would usually go for. But I found myself enjoying it more and more at every chapter I completed. I suppose it’s a very it’s life topic and one we probably don’t give enough thought to. Although centralised around a railway station. It’s because of this that two main characters really shine and you get familiar with the reasons for and against these and the different levels of passion for what they stand by.
This book is extremely British in so many ways. The author has done an exceptional job at pulling together a story that would suit a majority of readers. I was extremely appreciative to get the chance to read something I wouldn’t usually pick of the shelf. There was so many conspiracy theories that were incorporated in to the wording which left a stamp in my mind. This definitely gives you a lot to think about when you complete.
April 30, 2025
I enjoyed this a great deal, especially given that it centres around football and modernist architecture (two things I have a nascent interest in). the way that the novel uses both—and planning regulations, council politics, and PFI contracts—to talk about post-industrial Britain and class politics was fantastic. but writing a good social satire is hard, and the book sometimes risked making its protagonists feel one-dimensional. the novel began with real literary promise, seeming to respect the individuality of its characters and their striving, but by the end devolved into a little bit of a tragic comedy of errors. fun to read, but I think it could have been so much more!
September 23, 2024
This book caught me totally by surprise given how it was an impromptu grab from a library display and how I knew literally nothing about it.
The book is about regret, politics and the value of aggregation (focused on football but that’s immaterial) so it plays to my tastes quite well.
A painful love story, the intellectual limits of ambition, and clear cut if a little silhouetted characters round up the ensemble.
Very readable, only a tad presumptuous in the right way
The book is about regret, politics and the value of aggregation (focused on football but that’s immaterial) so it plays to my tastes quite well.
A painful love story, the intellectual limits of ambition, and clear cut if a little silhouetted characters round up the ensemble.
Very readable, only a tad presumptuous in the right way
March 12, 2023
Really loved the writing in this, especially the sections on football, but it’s slightly let down by having too many obviously stereotypical characters, and being not quite a farce but not quite serious either. Still really enjoyed it though.
March 10, 2025
Loved this book. Characters were interesting and believable. I’m not a football fan but might well become one. So desperate to find out what was going to happen but was conflicted and I didn’t want to finish the book and say goodbye to those characters I’d come to love.
October 10, 2021
This is a historical fiction that funny witty plenty of facts and plots a great read brilliant characters you love. Great writing style amazing history well research you love this story.
October 25, 2025
Bloated, but a memorable and original attempt to synthesise all sorts of elements of and connections to class and place: football fandom, architecture, diet, political theory, love and infatuation.
March 1, 2023
Whilst overall I quite enjoyed this, I found it overly long and just a bit too pleased with itself - I actually nearly gave up about 1/4 in.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews