Piers Rowlandson
Review of Meeting
Tuesday, 4th February 2025.
Lesley invited Nicola Garrard to come along and tell us how she got involved in writing two novels. She started by saying that she had never imagined writing a novel but had always enjoyed writing poetry. Then, after one of her pupils from the school in Hackney where she worked for fifteen years, was murdered, she felt she had to tell his story.
29 Locks is written from Donny’s point of view in Multicultural London English. It deals with the injustices suffered by the Windrush generation, the impossible situation a single drug addicted mother finds herself in, local gangs, drug dealing, county lines, and knife crime. Naturally a lively discussion was had about social issues as well as how 29 Locks came to be published. The crucial fact being that the novel was short listed for a prize and so caught the attention of an agent. 21 Miles continues Donny’s story as he and his girlfriend, Zoe, cross the channel (21miles from Dover to Calais) and get involved with the children and teenagers in a camp in the woods, who are waiting to cross the channel and seek asylum with relatives in England. The publisher who took on 29 Locks was naturally keen to publish 21 Miles. Nicola’s eagerly awaited next novel is set in Devon. The focus is on rural poverty and social injustice