I’m delighted today to be joining the blog tour for Welcome to Whitlock Close, the debut novel from Karen Louise Hollis: independently published on 13th May and the first in a planned series, it’s now available for kindle (free via Kindle Unlimited) and in paperback via Amazon in the UK and US. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the author for my reading e-copy.
I first came across Karen through reading the lovely reviews she writes on her book blog, I Heart Books – we’re Facebook friends too, and it’s been lovely to see her regularly needing to provide more copies of her book to Lindum books in Lincoln (you can, of course, buy the paperback there too) as it sold out with great regularity. When Rachel’s invitation to review arrived in my inbox, I immediately loved the synopsis – and, I’ll admit, did smile even more widely to see a book set at the start of the 1980s badged as “historical fiction” (although, of course, quite rightly so!). My favourite decade though, and I really was rather looking forward to this one…
It’s 1981 and the Thorpe family – Robert, Sandra and their eleven-year-old daughter Louise – decide to move from the city of Lincoln to a village seven miles away. Moving into New Barnham, they must each find their place in a village where they know no-one and Louise has to start at a big new secondary school.
The cul-de-sac they move into has eight semi-detached houses. Behind each front door live people with their own lives, their own stories to tell. Soon the whole of Whitlock Close will become involved in each other’s lives, each other’s stories.
The village has its own events too and besides the households of Whitlock Close, we find out about the book club and the Village Twinning Committee, while Louise joins the City Gymnastics Club for her own adventures.
In a Close which has all types of people, and all ages from four years old to a man in his nineties, it is understandable that all kinds of emotions will be found here. From young love to the loneliness of widowhood, from temptation and addiction to fun and friendship, we find everything here in Whitlock Close.
And lots of dogs and cats.
This really was the loveliest read – refreshingly different, the writing tremendously engaging, an authentic slice of 1980s nostalgia while sharing the lives of the residents of Whitlock Close.
At the story’s centre is eleven year old Louise, starting her new life in the Lincolnshire village of New Barham – and we follow her experiences as she attends her new secondary school, makes new friends, discovers others who share her love of gymnastics, gets involved with the City Gymnastics Club and takes part in their competitions. And as the story is told – at first – largely from her perspective, it gives the whole book the perfect flavour of innocence and discovery, of youthful uncertainty and enthusiasm. But we also follow her parents Robert and Sandra as they find their place in the Close, and get to know the neighbours – the pushy and over-friendly one with the son in the military (and whose husband gives Robert someone to share a pint with), the nosy and interfering old lady on the corner (although perhaps Norah’s just lonely), the career girl with her exciting new relationship, the rather nice young man who does something in the media and keeps himself to himself. And as Sandra joins the local book club, the circle widens a little – a middle-aged female couple who share a home together, an intriguing dog-walking companion, and more.
There isn’t a single over-riding storyline – instead, we join all the individuals as they live their lives, the perspective shifting (smoothly and entirely comfortably) as different strands of the story move to the forefront. We see the arrival of the Close’s first black family, and witness the less tolerant times with an initial display of racism and bigotry – disturbing at first, but perfectly handled. And there’s no shying away from the darkness that sometimes comes into people’s lives – loneliness, mental health issues, loss, heartbreak, stranger danger – and all the emotions attached. But there’s a lovely measure of joy too – Louise’s new friendships and gymnastic successes, the excursion with the Village Twinning Committee, the extraordinary level of support for those who are struggling, the close friendships that are formed, all those lovely moments of which memories are made.
This book was unlike any I’ve read before – I loved the writing, I very much enjoyed the twists and turns of the story, the characters are all so well drawn, the era is perfectly captured, and the author really does have the loveliest emotional touch. This is the author’s first novel, and I’ll really look forward to her next – a return to Whitlock Close, I hope? A lovely read, and very much recommended.
About the author
Karen Louise Hollis was born in Lincoln in 1969 and was brought up in a house full of notebooks and typewriters, with both her parents being journalists.
Her first self-published book was a poetry collection in 2003. Un-Conventional: 13 Years of Meeting the Stars of Doctor Who was published by Hirst Books in 2010 and subsequently republished by Lulu. Her biography of the actor Anthony Ainley was published by Fantom Publishing in 2015 and is available in hardback, paperback and audio CD.
She lives in Lincoln with her mother, her son and her cat and enjoys writing, reading, sewing, politics, history and watching gymnastics. This is her first novel.
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