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I’m glad I did read the way through. It’s frightening to see how far we have not come. How little has really changed and how still the government is essentially the same no matter who’s at the head of it. One of the things I didn't like was that the book does contain a fair bit of what I would consider to be unnecessary padding. Stuff that does nothing to set the scene or progress the narrative. Since finishing I have realised that this is not the end of the story - I believe it is part one of a trilogy - and I think that maybe the author wanted to end the story where her did and maybe needed an injection of word count to pad out this part? Speculation on my part, just my thoughts. Suffice to say, it could have been trimmed and would have lost nothing apart from having dragged in places. The novel segues into an extended character study of Viviana, “a mixed-race woman who doesn’t bow her head in submission”, as de Campos explores Brazilian attitudes to race, class, prostitution and women. It’s a classic bait-and-switch: having lured us into the story with a conventional tale of a reluctant amateur sleuth, de Campos delivers a polemic against patriarchal privilege that somehow believes, despite perpetrating “crimes of kidnap, assault, false imprisonment, attempted femicide and some others”, that it is still entitled to justice. It’s written in an extremely unique voice - somewhat difficult at times , i did toy with not finishing it once or twice but I continued on to the end. Thomas’s fiction draws on archive material, testimonies and newspaper reports from 1978-83, in particular the events surrounding the unsolved killings of two men of colour in east London. Through the stories of Altab Ali, who was stabbed to death in Whitechapel, and Colin Roach, who allegedly shot himself in Stoke Newington police station, White Riot unfolds as a propulsive crime novel. Thomas ably captures local community anger, interracial tensions and especially the foreboding atmosphere around anti-fascist marches that led to violent clashes with NF skinheads and thuggish Special Patrol Group police. In the melee, there’s the “thump of bats on slabs of meat, the crunch of deadened limb, of nose and cheek, and broken glass”.
White Riot By Joe Thomas | New | 9781529423372 - Wob
Police and thieves, punks and spycops. White Riot captures the raw energy of the times in spectacular fashion, evoking a visceral narrative of power and corruption -- Jake Arnott The first part of a proposed United Kingdom Trilogy, White Riot is a timely, powerful and gorgeously readable novel that represents everything that is good and important about the crime fiction genre. The plotting is tremendous and highly engaging, with a style somewhat reminiscent of David Peace’s Red Riding novels. The first in a proposed trilogy, which is a mouth watering prospect.The writing is vibrant and rhythmic with the book difficult to put down to the point you find your eyes drooping yelling out for sleep. The power of Trade Unions, the police and the corruption therein, racism and the National Front are all explored throughout, but the book never weights heavy or gets too dramatic. There’s also the fun of real life musical figures littered throughout with Suzi’s boyfriend playing the role of fictional producer to many of them.
Joe Thomas | Hachette UK Joe Thomas | Hachette UK
It covers a lot of hard hitting subjects and it does this very well. No over the top sensationalising, well, to be honest, it was brutal enough without! The novel weaves fact and personal testimony into a fictional account of the period, focusing on a number of fictional characters from the worlds of music, politics and policing as they respond to real events. MyHome.ie (Opens in new window) • Top 1000 • The Gloss (Opens in new window) • Recruit Ireland (Opens in new window) • Irish Times Training (Opens in new window) White Riot is an electrifying novel of politics, the counterculture, and music as a powerful force. In Suzi Scialfa, Thomas has given us a pioneering character - a female journalist, forging her way in a man's world; you believe in her, root for her, want to hear more. I loved this book." - Laura Barton This book started off well for me. I enjoyed the bit of a trip down memory lane that it took me on. Being a child of the 80s and interested in the politics of the era as I am.One of the main things I will take from reading this book, and this is why I think it will do well and become an important read, is that comparing the 70s and 80s with the now, it appears that not much has really changed, and that's very sad.
White Riot by Joe Thomas | Waterstones
Gripping . . . Deeply moving . . . A love letter to London, seething with outrage, that leads you keen to read its planned sequels -- Mark Sanderson * The Times *Hotjar sets this cookie to identify a new user’s first session. It stores a true/false value, indicating whether it was the first time Hotjar saw this user. Police and thieves, punks and spycops. White Riot captures the raw energy of the times in spectacular fashion, evoking a visceral narrative of power and corruption." - Jake Arnott White Riot is an electrifying novel of politics, the counterculture, and music as a powerful force. In Suzi Scialfa, Thomas has given us a pioneering character - a female journalist, forging her way in a man's world; you believe in her, root for her, want to hear more. I loved this book -- Laura Barton
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