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A warm, humane, and sharply observed tale of small town life that is by equal turns hilarious and moving. Big Davey Jones is coming home. He's been gone almost 20 years now, but nobody's forgotten him. Davey's a local hero -- his miracle birth as the seventh son of a seventh son brought fame to this little town and they've been grateful ever since. But Davey's home town has changed much in the intervening years. The traditional family business like Billy Finlay's Auto-Supplies and Calton's Bakery and Tea Rooms have been replaced with 'Exciting New Housing Developments!' and even a nightclub called 'Paradise Lost'. The locals haven't changed much though. Bob Savory, who always had it in him, has made a million with his company Sandwich Classics, and he's branching out now, with an Irish themed restaurant on the ring road. Francie McGinn, the divorced minister at The People's Fellowship, is still trying to convert the town through his Fish-and-Chip Biblical Quiz Nights and his Good Friday Carvery & Gospel Night. And Sammy, the town's best plumber, is depressed as ever and looking for solace at the bottom of the whisky bottle. Clever, touching and, above all, utterly spot-on in its depiction of small town life, Ring Road is confirms Ian Sansom's status as one of our most perceptive authors working today.
The return of local legend Big Davey Jones to his rapidly modernizing hometown triggers a collision between mythic expectations and the mundane realities of contemporary life. After two decades of absence, Davey finds his birthplace transformed by commercial development and shifting social tides, forcing him to navigate a landscape populated by familiar, eccentric figures. The narrative follows his attempts to reconcile his past status as a miracle child with the current, often absurd, state of his community. Through a series of observational vignettes, the story examines the friction between nostalgia and the relentless march of progress in a small-town setting.
This work is characterized by its sharp, observational humor and its focus on the peculiar dynamics of small-town social structures. The narrative suggests a focus on the tension between the mythologized past of a local hero and the encroaching banality of modern consumer culture. Readers likely find the depiction of the town's eccentric inhabitants to be the primary draw, as the author utilizes these characters to critique broader societal shifts. The pacing appears to be deliberate and character-driven, prioritizing the accumulation of small, ironic details over high-stakes plot progression. The text serves as a study of how communities attempt to preserve their identity while being reshaped by external economic forces.
Page Count:
432
Publication Date:
2012-10-18
Publisher:
Fourth Estate
ISBN-10:
0007156545
ISBN-13:
9780007156542
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