THE SCHOLAR

Cory and Sean Bradley are cousins, but grow up as brothers on the Greenside Estate, West London. Young, Black, good-looking and smart enough to want to leave the poverty trap of the estate, their escape routes are as different as their personalities. Sean, ‘the scholar’, sensible, serious and anti-drugs, studies hard to get a university place. Cory, streetwise and impulsive, has discovered the more instant rewards of crime, the pleasures of E and weed. Each cousin seems to have made his choice; but plans have a habit of going awry… As the violence escalates and the options dwindle, Sean and Cory face the impossible task of trying to do the right thing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Publisher: Abacus

ISBN: 0349108765

Review: ‘Vividly rendered…Strong characterisation and richly authentic dialogue’ TIME OUT ‘A glimpse into an urban nightmare where violence is casual, drugs are the norm…a freshness in the details and in the dialogue – frighteningly believable.’ THE INDEPENDENT ‘Real tension and suspense… an abosorbing debut from a writer who clearly has important things to say.’ OBSERVER ‘A powerfully written debut novel.’ WALES ON SUNDAY ‘Sharp and fiesty, this west side story is dripping with real suspense.’ IRELAND THE EXAMINER ‘the characterisation and convincing sense of place give the story a confident air of plausibility… A distinctive and unsentimental perspective.’ THE TIMES ‘A debut novel that marks a major new talent- an authentic voice of Afro-Carribean experience on a West London housing estate.’ BOOKS MAGAZINE ‘Newland has produced a pot boiler of sorts, with a story line pacy enough to keep the reader interested… An entertaining and pertinent read.’ PRIDE MAGAZINE ‘full of street-smart wisdom and an ingenious narrative drive.’ ARENA