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In Edward Hogan’s Blackmoor, a half-blind albino mother leaps from a window to her death after believing she has seen her child fall to his death from the same window. That doesn’t sound like much of a start. But add to it the setting of a Derbyshire mining village, the closure of the coal pits, a hot lawn, mysterious deaths, explosions, the earth erupting with firedamp and suspicion of witchcraft!

The dreadful past of Blackmoor is relived through Beth herself, through her husband and through the memories of miners – Edward Hogan has clearly been down the pit, the experience is gripping! With them, we live through the bitter Thatcher mine closures. The village is destroyed and the hostile and suspicious community rehoused in New Blackmoor.

Vincent, the little boy who fell (and survived) is bullied at school, and blamed by his outcast father for Beth’s death. A school project finally reveals to him the truth of his past.

The novel is a richly realistic evocation of very recent history. The key events are meted out with such fine pacing and delicate mastery that the reader is enthralled from start to finish. This is a terrific read!

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