About three years ago, I featured on the Eight Albums website, a terrific experience that took the Desert Island Discs concept to a whole new level. Inevitably, a Thin Lizzy album featured, along with some tales of my gig-going years. Even now, I look back on that post with a lot of affection. If you’re interested in which were my eight albums (and why), you can still check it out by clicking on the image below. (There’s even a Spotify playlist!)
The reason I mention it here, though, is that one of the people who run the Eight Albums site is Steven Kedie, who also happens to be an author. Whenever I meet a new author, I tend to add one of their books to by TBR pile. Those books don’t always get read (if you’ve got a TBR pile, you’ll know my pain), but Steven’s book Suburb made it through. It’s an oversight of mine that I never reviewed it and, frankly, any review I did now wouldn’t really reflect how I felt about it at the time – too many books have passed under the bridge since. What I do recall, though, is that I was surprised at how the story pulled me in – even though the subject matter wasn’t an obvious choice for me.
Last year, Steven and I appeared on a panel together. During the course of the evening, I discovered he had another book out, Running and Jumping. When I heard its themes, my initial thought was that I couldn’t imagine how it’d be of interest to me. And then I remembered how I’d felt about Suburb, so I decided to give it a try.
Here’s the blurb:
Your Olympic read of the summer has just landed!
‘When rivalry defines you, losing is not an option.’
In a Beijing nightclub, in the afterglow of the 2008 Olympics, a rivalry begins that, for British long jumper Adam Lowe, will define not just his career, but his life itself.
In a sporting cycle that is as familiar as it is unforgiving, Lowe finds himself in a quest for gold and legacy, pushed to the extreme both professionally and personally.
The highest level of elite sport is brutal, and the margins are as tight as they come – but what happens when your very best still isn’t good enough?
Running and Jumping is an electrifying story of determination, love, despair and triumph, and a novel that will live with you long after the pages stop turning.
Anyone who knows me reasonably well will know that I’m not really into sport. I do exercise (admittedly, not as much as I should), and I like swimming, sailing and cycling, but not in a competitive way. As for spectating, I’m really not interested. I’ve done it – taken my son to football matches, watched some cricket and rowing (usually because family members were involved) and been to a couple of athletics competitions because my partner is a fan – but it’s never been an essential part of my life.
So why would I be interested in a book about long-jumping? Honestly, I wasn’t. And yet, Steven did it again. He pulled me in immediately. And he kept me with Adam right to the end, experiencing the highs and lows, the competition, the setbacks and the conflicts – on the field and at home. This book really is a journey, and Steven’s research and attention to detail gives it an authentic feel. But that detail isn’t laboured – it’s blended into the story in a way that just adds to the compelling narrative.
When I reached the end, it did feel like I’d completed the journey with Adam. Whether that completion was one filled with relief, excitement, defeat – or any other emotion – you can only find out if you read it for yourself. Who knows, the emotion you feel might even be different to mine. What I can promise, though, is that you will feel something.
It might have been an unlikely theme, but I’m so glad I got to read it.
If I have piqued your interest in this book and you want to know more, click on the image below for the Amazon link.
