Student follows Allison from Merseyside on the day she gets her A level results to her university finals three years later, with one chapter per term. Allison fights off a sexual assault, loses her virginity, takes drugs, goes to gigs and parties, makes and breaks friendships, and has a near nervous breakdown. There's little about studying.
This is a raw, intense and truthful novel about late adolescence in an urban setting (contemporary Nottingham), with lyrical moments and a positive note at the end. It’s never exploitative or sensationalist.
This book is also available as an ebook: buy it from Amazon here.
“Anyone who has been at university will relate to the experiences here – isolation, friendship, sex, loyalty, heartbreak, happiness, despair. The book is full of honesty and insight, and you never know until the very end who is going to make it and who is going to fall by the wayside.”
Melvin Burgess
“Tense, honest and pacy – exactly the things you'd expect from a David Belbin novel. I couldn't put it down.”
Nicola Monaghan
David Belbin's Bone and Cane (Tindal Street Press) topped the Amazon Kindle charts. His follow-up book, What You Don't Know, was published in January 2012. His Five Leaves novel The Pretender has been translated into several languages. David first made his name as a gritty and worldly writer of books for young adults, featuring issues such as race, loss of virginity, homosexuality and bullying, within a strong and honest narrative.