“Samhain had dreamed of a home like this. Abandoned, bay-fronted, a Georgian thing with double rooms and en-suites. The Boundary Hotel had faded sign facing the road. It promised tea-making facilities and a TV lounge. Samhain had been riding past it on his bike every day for months. He had wanted to check that it really was empty…”
Wild and unshackled by job or responsibilities, young punk Samhain breaks into an abandoned hotel which is to become his home. Along with best friend Frankie, he dreams of nothing more than living a free life, and travelling across Europe with their band in the back of a van.
But unexpected news gives Samhain pause. An old friend has discovered that undercover police were fathering children in activist groups in the years he was conceived. Having never known his Dad, he can’t help but wonder – could one of these men have been his father?
Chosen as one of Morning Star’s Books of the Year and based on the true stories of police infiltration into activist groups, Guest is a richly detailed story set in the world of squats and self-run social centres which utilises Bradley’s trademark poetic style in a political coming of age story about freedom, responsibility and hope.
“Blimey, I don’t half recognise the houses, the habits and the culture that The Guest so perfectly describes; the muck, the dirt and the mess ingrained in the sticky carpets and in the tangled relationships of the punk rock 1980s. And it’s that reflection between chaotic lifestyles and chaotic relationships that this book gets so right – the smell that’s one part stale beer, one part vegan stew and one part emotional turmoil…” – Boff Whalley, Chumbawamba
“A tightly honed work of dirty realism with convincing characters and richly developed settings, Guest is an entertaining and life-affirming work with important things to say about protest, resilience and the idea that “successful” living depends on an ability to share in the lives of others.” Andy Hedgecock, Morning Star
My novel, Guest, is out now, available from Dead Ink Books
SJ Bradley Author 