Keep
it Dark
Will Jonson
Red Axe Books
This is a very impressive debut
novel by Unite community member, Will Jonson. Keep it Dark articulately brings to life some momentous 20th century political events
such as the Spanish Civil War, the Battle of Stalingrad 1942-43, the Holocaust,
the Soviet Union invasions of Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan and the shipyard
occupations, strikes and riots in 1970s and 80s Britain.
Just eight, Tommy embarrassingly
catches his Uncle Jack, often the butt of family jokes for having served in the
Merchant Navy during the World War, sobbing his heart out. Tommy grows up
loving books. Jack has lots of them. Young and old become close friends.
As Tommy develops an understanding
of why Jack was so distressed he is transported back to the 1930s when his
uncle left Britain alongside his best friend, Robbie, to join the International
Brigades and fight against Franco, and his fascist allies, in Spain.
Both fighters forge intense, brief,
relationships with two Russian female crack snipers, whose socialist beliefs
are ultimately crushed by a combination of fascism and a Soviet system where
the working class was unable to establish its authority over the state
bureaucracy.
If the tale itself is therefore
heavy, and ultimately tragic, the telling of it is certainly not. All the main
characters have real loving warmth to them and as the tale moves across Europe,
Jonson’s successful combination of the personal with the political is highly
emotive. The scene descriptions are also believable and there is sufficient of
a twist to the tale to keep the reader seeking answers. Keep it Dark is certainly worth reading.
To order a copy of the book go to:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Keep-Dark-Will-Jonson/dp/0957338414
The author – Will Jonson is a
pseudonym for David Wheeler, who worked for many years as a teacher before
retiring on ill-health grounds. Born in 1957 in London, David now lives in
Lincolnshire and joined Unite community because (unlike the NUT) it is
affiliated to the Labour Party and he was impressed by the number of Unite
members on an anti-cuts march he attended in London. He is currently working on
his second novel but in the meantime he has started publishing out of copyright
books by famous writers such as Jack London and William Blake. See for
example:- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Strength-Strong-Other-Stories-Complete/dp/1494706474/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388494206&sr=1-6&keywords=jack+london+and+will+jonson
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