Featherweight - Mick Kitson

This was one of those delightful books where I had no preconceived notions nor expectations. The writer was unfamiliar to me but there was something about the book which appealed - what I like to call a ‘je ne sais quoi’ book.

It was an absorbing, easy to read, historical fiction tale of a female pugilist which I understand is based on real characters and events. And, anorak that I am, I did some googling and I now have an adequate knowledge of William Perry, aka Bill Perry, aka The Tipton Slasher. There is a statue of him in Tilston and The Champion of England pub was in West Bromwich, Spon Lane to be exact. But I digress. I am supposed to be writing about the book! But I do believe it is a mark of a good historical fiction that motivates the reader to find out more.

Here’s some blurb.

‘Annie Perry is born beside the coal-muddied canals of the Black Country, at the height of the industrial revolution. The youngest in a large Romani family who cannot afford to keep her, when she is eight years old Annie is sold as a servant to the famous and feared bare-knuckle boxer Bill Perry, The Tipton Slasher.

Bill is starting to lose his strength, but refuses to give up his crown. When it looks like a fight might become Bill’s last, Annie steps into the ring, fists raised in his defence. From that moment she is determined to train and follow in Bill’s footsteps, to learn to fight for herself. But Annie has been doing this all along.

A whole new world opens up for Annie, one of love, fortune, family and education, but also with danger. One wrong move, one misstep, and her life will be changed for ever.’

Featherweight offers the reader an exacting view of Victorian life in the Black Country, where the population seems accepting of their situation for the most part with occasional resistance in the form of the politically motivated Chartist movement and the financially motivated highwaymen movement!! I hope those aren’t spoilers.

You can’t help warming to Annie, her pragmatism and practical intelligence balanced with the loving side of her her nature. You admire, too, the spirit of someone  who seems to understand her situation from a young age and complies without objection. Her ability to manage Bill could be described as her ‘aBILLity’! She dominates the story and carries the reader with her all the way. Her decisions are our decisions.

Despite the harshness of the depicted life there is a warmth that runs through the book. The loyalty of the characters towards one another is somehow refreshing and the sense of community is strong.

The book opens with an enigmatic prologue which I confess I forgot all about as I became so thoroughly immersed in the story ‘proper’. When I reached the Epilogue it was a jolt that had me feverishly turning the pages back to the beginning and smiling at the symmetry of the tale. There is a dual narrative with Annie as narrator in some parts and a straightforward third person story telling in the rest. It works quite well. The historical research is thorough and convincing. The class divide is clear without the need for emphasis or exaggeration. But Annie transcends it all to overcome life obstacles and pitfalls.

My thanks to Canongate Books for a gifted proof.