Just finished the rollercoaster ride that is Helen Walsh’s second novel Once upon a Time in England. What a read!

It tells the story of a mixed-race family through the seventies, eighties and nineties, while managing to throw into the mix arguments about youth culture, homosexuality, drugs and urban planning - all viewed strangely through the prism of Don McLean’s Starry Starry Night.

The first two chapters alone make this book worth reading. It’s a rare thing to sketch so quickly and vividly two principle characters, and at the same time move the plot forward so rapidly. The start of the novel can be like a fairground ride - you can’t get on if it’s moving too fast. Walsh, though, has pulled off a stunning trick with these first two chapters where it’s as if you’ve fallen on to the ride and are kept in position by the sheer momentum of her storytelling.