Living Nowhere

Corby, the industrial new town built around a vast steel works, draws many to the fires of its furnaces – in the hope of steady work, a better house, a fresh start. Amongst them are Francis Cameron, from Scotland, and his friend Jan Ruckert, the son of Latvian refugees. Alienated, intelligent and curious, they form a strong and lasting bond: two teenage boys finding their feet in a foreign place. But violence hangs in the Corby air like the ash and the stench from the steel works, and when it comes down it is sudden and lethal – with repercussions that will last a lifetime. Living Nowhere is a story of friendship and loss – a resonant, thrilling book that carries at its core a beautiful and terrible secret.

Reviews of Living Nowhere

"The savagery of Burnside's subject matter is finely juxtaposed with the mellifluous and redemptive beauty of his prose. A darkly compelling read" Time Out "Burnside's prose is exquisite" Sunday Times "In Living Nowhere, Burnside twins his poetic and storytelling talents as never before to produce a novel full of intrigue, atmosphere and startling imagery… Burnside is fond of the term alchemist; it applies to no one more than himself" Glasgow Herald "John Burnside is a mighty writer… this is writing to stun the sentence, halt the mind…This is the gaze of John Burnside. The burning gaze of a poet: intense, peculiar, off-kilter and deeply interesting… A mighty achievement" Sunday Herald