

Set in 1980s South Manchester, Benn's blazing novel of female solidarity and the legacy of male violence centres on three generations of women at the heart of an underworld family.
Winner of The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award 2022
Wythenshawe, South Manchester. 1985. The Dodds family once ruled Manchester's underworld; now the men are dead, leaving three generations of women trapped in a house haunted by violence, harbouring an unregistered baby.
Matriarch Nedra presides over the household, which bustles with activity as she prepares the welcome feast for her grandson Kelly's return from prison.
Her grieving daughter-in-law Carol is visited by both the welcome, intimate ghost of her murdered lover, and by Mac, an ageing criminal enforcer, a man who may just offer her a real and possible future. And then there is Jan - the teenage tearaway running as fast as she can from her mother, her grandmother, and her own unnamed baby. Over the course of a few days, the Dodds women must each confront the true legacy of the men who have defined their lives; and seize the opportunity to break the cycle for good.
A blistering portrait of a family on fire, Oxblood lays bare the horror of violence, the exile of grief, and the extraordinary power of love.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN: 9781526639486
Number of pages: 272
Dimensions: 234 x 153 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'With a brutal yet compassionate honesty, Oxblood confronts the past as it was and how it shapes who we are now, and confirms Tom Benn as one of the most powerful and urgent writers of our times.' - David Peace, author of The Red Riding Quartet
'Powerful stuff and so beautifully written - like David Peace wrote Alan Warner's The Sopranos and so lyrical, too. You don't care where it's heading, you're just happy to step into the flow and let it take you. Brilliant stuff - this is really very good indeed.' - Harriet Tyce
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“Recommended”
Well written, heart-wrenching and heart warming at the same time, it was a compelling and fascinating read.
The author did an excellent job in delivering this emotionally charged, entertaining, and moving story.
The...
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“Memories”
I was drawn to this novel simply by the fact that it is set in the Wythenshawe and Manchester of the 60's, 70's and 80's that I grew up in and where my paternal grandparents lived. There's a... More
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