Well worth a read - whether you're politically minded or not. Recommended.

Took me a while to get 'into' this... Seemed like an ordinary tale of ordinary folks, then it got interesting! Nicely written, it juggled a number of complicated story-lines and characters and teased out a very interesting tale of a family growing up... Nicely written with a good use of language to convey meaning and mood.

Personally, I struggled to read this book and put it down several times so did not find it an engaging read. Neither the characters or the plot seemed real to me. I persevered to the end but did not feel satisfied with this book. Sorry!

I really enjoyed this book. It gives a genuine flavour of the period. The characters are well drawn, but not predictable.

Vaguely disappointing - not convincing to someone who lived through the times described in the book in the great city of Sheffield. Always tricky to convey the zeitgeist of a period and place and this doesn't make the connection needed. Perhaps it would appeal to someone less attached to the events and times that feature as the backdrop to the novel - but then, is it doing the subject matter justice if that's what it takes to enjoy the read?