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A year in the life of a 13-year-old boy in 1980s England
2006Steady paceWarm
What it is about
Jason Taylor is a stuttering teenager in a village in Worcestershire. Over thirteen months in 1982 and 1983, he tries to hide his stammer and his secret life as a poet. The story is told in thirteen linked chapters.
Who will enjoy it
Readers who like coming-of-age novels.
What you will get
A gentler book than Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas.
Black Swan Green Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Literary Fiction · Coming of age · Stammer · 1980s
Length
294 pages · ≈ 8 h
More about this book
Characters
Jason Taylor and his family and school friends.
Setting
Black Swan Green, a village in England, in 1982–83.
What makes it different
A small, personal novel by a writer known for big structures.
Feel
Funny, vivid and painful.
The Line of Beauty
The Last Anniversary
To Kill a Mockingbird
Circle of Friends
The Secret Life of Bees
Scarlet Sister Mary
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
The Marriage Plot