Elmet, the place, lies to the east of Doncaster and the south of Castleford and is where my mother’s forbears came from. In many ways Elmet is a mythic place. I confess the rural woodcut on the cover and the title lulled me into thinking Elmet would have mythic qualities. It does, sort of. Not in a mistily romantic way but in a feral, on the edge of twenty-first century society sort of a way. Violence threads through Elmet, the closeness of family and the beauty of the Elmet also weave in and out. Elmet is a book that gets you thinking from the first word, this is Fiona Mozley’s first novel and I look forward to her next.

Narrated by the younger brother Daniel, this tells of a tightly woven complex family who live in isolation from others and a father who lives on the wrong side of the law.

Living in a house built by the father on land they do not own, they are at the heart of bare knuckle boxing and feuds.

Daniel's narration is both charmingly innocent and perceptive creating an uneven pace adding to the atmosphere and violence throughout.

A perfect and simultaneously difficult read, a phenomenal book

I was unsure when I started this book whether I would enjoy it or not. The idea of a book written by a woman but narrated by a young boy is unusual but it captivated me very quickly.

Daniel, the narrator, lives in isolation with his sister, Cathy and his "Daddy" who he hero worships. their idyllic life together is threatened.

The book is wonderfully poetic and although the narrative style takes some getting used to, the characters become rich as the story grows and it's a very rewarding book.

I enjoyed this book. I found the story of this family and its difficulties compelling and original. The narrative is quite bleak, and violent, but also lyrical in its own way with an almost fairy tale quality at times.

Raw and powerful, but uneven throughout, this short, explosive tale is best read in a single sitting to get the most from the build-up of atmosphere, and to avoid the breaking of the spell which allows disbelief to enter.

Mozley has a heightened style of prose, a bit Wuthering Heights with its insertions of dialect and mythic landscape, a bit Ted Hughes (witness the title) as his most epic and self-conscious. The whole thing builds to an orgy of violence that we've been waiting for from the start.

Not the most subtle piece of writing, but forceful and compelling all the same.

At once grim and lyrically beautiful. This tale of Cathy, Daniel and their Daddy is as grim as it is northern. Daddy is both a bare knuckle fighter, a towering giant of a man and a gruffly tender caregiver. Raising his children alone in a house that they have built themselves on land they don't own makes for a complex tale of debts, revenge and blackmail. Cathy is a strong girl, fearless and with a determined independence whilst Daniel is a gentle soul, carefully treading his way through the world walking to the beat of his own drum. Written using the northern vernacular is something I found very appealing and authentic and it put me in mind of the honesty of writing by authors such as Sillitoe and Hines. I can well understand why this book made the journey from the wild card of the Mann Booker longlist to the shortlist..

I started to write a review of this book and realised that couldn't really improve on all the other reviews which have been published. This really is a superb book by a very accomplished new writer and I am looking forward to reading more in the future.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. what a wonderful surprisingly delightful and well written book.

It's hard to believe this is a work by a debut novelist. This is such a vivid and challenging work that it's no wonder this has been short-listed for many of this year's awards.

Elmet is the story of Daniel, his father and sister and their isolated lives away from others. Throughout the story, you feel there is so much being unsaid that you feel drawn through the narrative to understand more about why the characters have come to live away from society the way they do.

This is not an action-packed story, but it is a wonderfully constructed one that explores the characters in close detail which is perfect for me as I am someone who enjoys a character-heavy story rather than a plot driven one. I am really intrigued to see where this writer will go next!

Danny and his family live on the edge. In their self-built cottage in the woods they are detached from mainstream society, almost invisible to it, self-contained in their self-sufficiency and innocence. But the margins are where it all starts to disintegrate and, as Danny discovers, living on the edge is insecure and ultimately dangerous. This is an unusual novel. The setting seems to be more or less contemporary, but it also feels primeval and unlocated in time. The writing is very distinctive and, appropriately, slightly detached. Even when the violence explodes, the visceral yet clinical descriptions have a fatalistic, dream-like quality which is unsettling. It’s probably fair to say that this is a brutal and bleak book, but it’s also a powerful and lyrical one that reverberates in the memory like a tragic folk ballad.

It is almost hard to believe that this is the author's debut novel - it is so beautifully written and put together with real skill. It tells the story of Daniel, his older sister Cathy and their father - always referred to by the narrator as 'Daddy' - as they try to build a life together without interference from the outside world. As the book develops it becomes clear that there are a lot of sinister influences that their father is trying to protect them from, The innocence of Daniel, the narrator, throws the harsh reality of their lives into sharp relief. In fact, it's a real novel of contrasts, There is softness and beauty - the gentle love of their father, and a really touching scene with some Christmas tree lights. But there is also hard, bloody violence. It's a story of great rage, told with real tenderness, and I look forward to reading more of Mozley's work.

I

A haunting story, beautifully written, of a family living on the edge of society. Daniel and Cathy live with their father and have a dysfunctional family history. A sad tale of a family who cannot escape their past. Highly recommended.

Daniel, who is 14, lives with his sister, Cathy, a year or so older, and his Daddy, on the edges of society. The mother, who was only ever an intermittent visitor, has not been seen for years.

Daddy builds a rough-hewn house on land he does not own, in an attempt to provide a settled life for his children. This venture is precarious at best and dangerous at worst. The landowner, Mr Price, soon comes knocking. He is willing to sign over the land, but at a cost. Daddy, a giant of a man, takes part in illegal fights and once worked for Price as a heavy and a debt-collector. He is unwilling to be 'owned' by Price again.

At first things seem relatively normal - within the parameters of their unusual lifestyle: Daddy manages the copse, chops wood, catches food, does odd jobs; Vivian, a neighbour who has known Daddy in the past, home-schools the children erratically from her own diverse and personal range of books. Cathy runs wild but Daniel is of a quieter disposition.

By turns prosaic and poetic, the narrative (told by Daniel) gradually reveals the secrets of the past. Rooted in the land, formerly known as Elmet, the novel depicts a life mud-splattered, hand-calloused and steeped in silence. A sense of unease soon turns to menace and the denouement is shocking.

A certain amount of poetic licence must be allowed as Daniel's narrative style seems too flowery and knowledgeable for a boy with little formal education. I didn't find this a problem though, and accepted it readily. However, the start felt a little slow to me and I almost gave up. I am glad I didn't, as I was soon drawn in to the strangeness of the story.

This is a masterclass in how to write a good novel and is worthy of its Booker status. There is a sense of foreboding throughout the book which I found myself raging against. I wanted this family to survive and thrive despite their vulnerability which is evoked so tenderly. By the end of the book I felt as if I knew them and their home personally. My only criticism is that the first person narrative is a little erratic in style, but that did not detract from my enjoyment or admiration of the book.

Beautifully written story about family, love and loss. This book tells the story of the life led by Daniel,his sister Cathy and their dad who they call daddy. It is about poverty, exploitation and the need to survive. It is haunting and dark and atmospheric. I was disappointed by the ending. The story just seemed to stop. I would have liked the book better if there had been a bit more to it.

I was drawn to this book because it reached the shortlist of the Booker prize even though it is a first novel. Had a hard time with it, though, or to be more precise I had a hard time with its narrator Daniel. Fourteen years old, without the benefit of structured schooling, he has drawn his education from his family’s near self-sufficient, isolated life close to nature and by being given the freedom to browse his father’s friend’s personal library. His narrative voice never rang true for me, too articulate in his description of his surroundings and too much insight into people’s motives given his limited life experience, and it didn’t sit well with the dialect and blunt talking of his father and sister. Many of the reflections on nature were beautiful, though, and I enjoyed reading them as long as I could suspend belief in their source. I’ll be following Fiona Mozley's future work with interest.

Sadly this novel was not for me. Far too descriptive when one word would do, the author uses ten. Nothing wrong with this just not for me.

Daniel and his sister Cathy live with their Daddy on the edge of society, in a house they have built themselves. Outsiders and poor, they yet have a deep bond between them and although Daddy is a violent man, a bare-knuckle boxer, he is fiercely protective of his children. However, the outside world inevitably impinges on their somewhat idyllic existence and it is inevitably doomed. It’s a dark and gothic tale, lyrically written with some arresting imagery and a real sense of place. There’s some good writing here but overall it just didn’t work for me due to the disconnect between what we know of Daniel and the voice in which he narrates the story, a narrative voice that is far too eloquent and articulate for his age and education. I found Daniel an interesting character but felt that his character and sexuality were only hinted at rather than fully explored. The author also seemed to lose control of the story towards the end where it all descends into melodrama and the result is too much of a gothic nightmare. I’m surprised it made the Booker short list as to me it doesn’t have the depth and maturity necessary to make it a great book rather than simply a promising debut.

A thoroughly engaging read. A view of childhood lived close to nature mixed with a measure of cruelty. Evoking the area of Elmet in Yorkshire and lives closely linked with that countryside.

This is a rather disturbing and intense book, written in the point of a view of a young teenage boy, who describes his life and how he has ended up homeless and in search of his sister. It is a rather grim look at some aspects of British gangster culture, a feudal system, with a landowner exploiting the vulnerable through violent means. It is gory, and grim for the majority of the book, which describes the boy living with a father, a hired thug who has escaped that lifestyle, and a scrappy sister, living off the grid. It is well written, even though I don't think it is Man Booker Prize worthy.