The Hoarse Oaths of Fife
This book is divided into two halves. It begins in 1965, with two teenage boys going to Scotland to work as potato roguers on a farm during the summer holidays. This involves inspecting the potato fields and weeding out any that are diseased or of a different variety from the main, planted crop. Our two heroes are of mixed race, resulting from affiliations made during the Great War: one half-Pakistani, nicknamed College because of his university education, and the other Italian, known as Fredo. Their boss is Kenny Roberts, who served in France and Belgium during WWI and at Loos, in France, in 1915 in particular. The second half of the book follows a journey made by Kenny, accompanied by College, back to Loos.
This is an interesting story which reflects attitudes toward race and colour in the 1960s while taking the reader back to WWI and the Battle of Loos in September 1915. Although I would not expect the vocabulary used to reflect the Queen’s English, I did find the constant use of the f-word irritating. The characterisation is good, and the pace moves quite well. The book has been shortlisted for the debut novel prize from the Historical Writers’ Association.
