Frank's Wild Years
by Nick Triplow
Steve began the discussion by giving the group a very useful background material on the different areas of London described in the book and the notorious gangsters who lived there.
He suggested that the stop and start time between Christmas and New Year reflected the theme of the past catching up with the present in the book.
The book was a page turner and most of us were interested in the story.
Many of us found it difficult to understand the main character’s motives.
Why did Frank become involved with the Price gang disregarding his wife and daughter?
Was it the vicarious excitement of being on the edge of the criminal world? Why was he so naïve about Dave Price’s character when he was obviously intelligent and why did he not rail against his unjust prison sentence?
Most of us hoped that he disappeared at the end of the book to go to Margate and start a new life with Jackie.
Some of us felt that his failure in life was redeemed by his rescue of Carl.
Most people had a sneaking sympathy with Carl. How could such a pathetic, inadequate man be the son of Dave Price.
His love for his daughter was touching especially as it drove him to go into an impossible situation from which he had to be rescued.
Although the description of London may have been accurate those of Hull were ill defined.
On the whole we found the characters unlikable and the world they lived in nasty and grey.
We were pleased we did not live in that section of society and liked to be able to ignore it.
3 stars.
CMC, 13th July, 2019.
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