THE GOOD PIT MAN

by Keith Aldritt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 16, 1976

Ray Wilcock was summed up or ticked off as a ""good pit man"" by Tom Marshall who ran the local colliery in the Midlands when it was still green back in the Fifties. Tom's wife Vera found Ray to be something more, just how much more she couldn't quite resolve, when he put his ""proper workman's hands"" to other things besides giving her driving lessons in her new Mini. At its most ambitious, this is a reconciliation of self late in life; on the village green, however, Ray and Vera become a disgrace when viewed in ""public"" by the good ladies on an outing and when Ray's wife indulges in an outlandishly squalid scene. So Vera buys a van where Ray can live alone, where she can come to see him (her husband is perfectly complaisant--he has his own diversions) until Ray almost dies, alone, and the love affair reaches a natural terminus. Aldritt tells his story with a conviction of place and feeling and it's a creditable if reminiscent novel--summat for somebody although just who will be the real stumper.

Pub Date: Aug. 16, 1976

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1976

Categories: FICTION