Dogged
This is Emma’s debut novel with Ignite Books. Her home city, Wolverhampton, provides the backdrop for the story.
‘Dogged’ is a rich, complex, and engaging tale, centred on two women in their 70s: Marilyn Grundy and Nancy Maddox.
Marilyn is a little bit scared of Nancy, but then everyone is. Nancy may be seventy-nine, but she’s a force to be reckoned with, and even the local dealers tread warily round her. Who better to look after Marilyn’s tartan shopping trolley when she needs to keep it hidden away?
Nancy’s got a lot on her mind, though, and a cough that’s getting worse. Is she really going be able to keep the trolley and its contents safe? What will the old goat have to say about it all? And what will happen to Toby, Marilyn’s little white dog?
Reviews
“Anyone who knows Emma Purshouse will not be surprised that she writes a book Wolverhampton and beyond should be proud of… full of real people, page-turning plot, and dark humour. This is pitch perfect. Like Steinbeck it is more film than book.. it is an easy and hard and satisfying and unputdownable read!”
Nadia Kingsley, Fair Acre Press.
“I read this quite quickly and, as with all good books, was at a loss when it ended. If you want something that is down to earth and real without wallowing in self loathing, and that is infused with warmth, humour and humanity, then this is the book for you.”
Garrie Fletcher, Good Reads
“In Dogged you’ll find a hundred mini stories intricately stitched together like a patchwork quilt constructed carefully from old cardigans and unwashed drapes, and maybe the odd rogue piece of plastic bag. We’re talking more Trainspotting than Notting Hill.
The characters, canine included, are exquisitely, realistically, humorously drawn, half-plucked in imagination, running through the pattern like the brown threads in The Kiss by Gustav Klimt that hold it firmly in place.
The atmosphere is most definitely post-industrial Black Country, as is much language of the dialogue, not greatly changed in centuries, so you’ll need to put your listening ears on as you read. It’s also devoid of Downton and smells distinctly of Dickens, Bullseye, Emma Purshouse!”
Al Barz.
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