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The Fathers

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The Fathers

By: John Niven
Narrated by: Angus King
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FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF O BROTHER

In a busy maternity ward, first-time father Dan meets Jada, a dad welcoming his fifth – no, sixth? – child into the world. Dan and Jada come from very different places: both called Glasgow. Dan is a successful TV writer with a townhouse in the West End and a shiny Tesla ready to drive his wife and baby home. Jada is a hustling, small-time criminal who is already planning how to separate Dan from some of the luxuries Jada has never been able to enjoy in his tiny flat in a Brutalist sixties council block.

Both men find that the birth of their sons has fired their ambitions. Dan plans to walk away from his saccharine TV success and finally knuckle down to writing that novel he always felt he had in him. While, for Jada, it’s the opportunity for one last get-rich-quick scheme – ripping off a local airport. When a tragedy occurs, their worlds are brought closer than either could ever have imagined – close enough that it could mean destruction for both of them . . .

 City Life Family Life Genre Fiction Urban
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Critic Reviews

"A class satire with grit . . . Very funny . . . A comic melodrama that’s never dull"
"Without losing any of the propulsive, sweary energy or outrageous comedy of his early work, Niven has added real, lingering depth to his fiction. It’s this new richness of heart that makes The Fathers such a blockbusting explosion of toxic masculinity. A week after finishing it, I still feel my ears ringing as I wait for the smoke to clear"
"Bitingly funny, inkwell black and surprisingly tender" (ADAM KAY, author of THIS IS GOING TO HURT)
"Like the bastard son of Irvine Welsh and Martin Amis, Niven manages to appal, amuse, terrify and make your heart ache in the same paragraph" (JOJO MOYES)
"A witty account of parenthood and masculinity"
"Niven is on fine form, inventive and excruciatingly funny, but beneath his darkly comic prose lurks a hitherto unseen tenderness"
"The novel is laugh out loud funny at points but its serious intentions are many. Inequality, criminality, substance abuse, class, social and economic horizons and even housing are themes which linger under the surface, alongside the numbing, dizzying forces unleashed by grief. Niven broaches all these things nimbly though…[with] smart, funny, laser-focussed prose"
"A hilarious and harrowing piece of brilliance" (LUCY MANGAN)
"The Fathers continues to examine tough subjects that aren’t often explored from a male perspective, like fertility and grief"
"An acid-drop sharp exploration of modern fatherhood"
All stars
Most relevant
Great pace, language, story and characters. Once again a great read / listen. Can’t recommend enough.

Another fantastic novel from John Niven

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