Take Nothing With You: A richly absorbing novel of boyhood, coming of age, confusion and desire

From the bestselling author of A PLACE CALLED WINTER comes a new novel of boyhood, coming of age, and the confusions of desire and reality. For all readers of Ian McEwan's ATONEMENT or L P Hartley's THE GO-BETWEEN. 1970s Western-Super-Mare and ten-year-old oddball Eustace, an only child, has life transformed by his mother's quixotic decision to sign him up for cello lessons. Music-making brings release for a boy who is discovering he is an emotional volcano. He laps up lessons from his young teacher, not noticing how her brand of glamour is casting a damaging spell over his frustrated and controlling mother. When he is enrolled in holiday courses in the Scottish borders, lessons in love, rejection and humility are added to daily practice. Drawing in part on his own boyhood, Patrick Gale's new novel explores a collision between childish hero worship and extremely messy adult love lives.

About the Author :
Patrick Gale was born on the Isle of Wight. He spent his infancy at Wandsworth Prison, which his father governed, then grew up in Winchester before going to Oxford University. He now lives on a farm near Land's End. One of this country's best-loved novelists, his most recent works are A Perfectly Good Man, the Richard and Judy bestseller Notes From An Exhibition, the Costa-shortlisted A Place Called Winter and Take Nothing With You. His original BBC television drama, Man In An Orange Shirt, was shown to great acclaim in 2017 as part of the BBC's Queer Britannia series, leading viewers around the world to discover his novels.

Review :
Absolutely one of his complete best. So many funny and tender and terrific scenes. He hovers between social comedy and apocalyptic tragedy without the move appearing artificial or contrived. Just a wonderful, wonderful read Safe in the arms of Patrick Gale's BEAUTIFUL writing again - I could weep with joy. A wonderful, intelligent and enriching novel. Gale draws his protagonist with compassion and empathy, and the book is populated by some terrific supporting characters, such as former star cellist Naomi, who had to give up performing because of stage fright and becomes a surrogate sibling in Eustace's life. Ultimately, it is a forceful reminder of the emotional power of music. As Eustace is told by his teacher at summer school: "Music knits. It heals. It is balm to the soul." The same could be said for this book Sexy, joyous, funny and tender. I relished it Joyous and full of light. I only meant to read a chapter and I greedily gobbled down the whole lot in one go. He is a beautiful and empathetic writer. A compelling story of how a passion for music can be the gateway to self-discovery, and lead a young teenager to find his tribe. The storytelling is so vivid, you can actually hear the music, and the intense fusion of artistic and erotic exploration will stir up memories for quite a few readers. A fascinating story, gripping, moving and exquisitely written, this is a wonderful gift of a book from one of the best writers working today. Very well done indeed - brilliantly sustained A tender and touching coming of age story from the always eminently readable Patrick Gale Patrick Gale has created such a wonderful character, I was bereft to leave him A compassionate and funny coming-of-age and coming-out novel. If you haven't read Gale before, start now A beautiful novel about longing, growth, music and family Gale is an enticing and quietly subversive storyteller . . . its depictions of strangeness and toxicity of under-the-surface conventions of middle-class life take it into darker and more surprising territory. In elegant, restrained prose, Gale writes with an eye on impermanence, showing how loss can be tinged with hope, and new beginnings with the threat of mortality. . . he taps into a range of experiences and emotions that are both specific and beautifully universal Gale is excellent on the hot, messy nature of self-discovery and sexual awakening Beguiling, vivid, wise and moving Beautifully told with understated glee and humanity, this novel raises smiles and shocked tears This coming-of-age story is gorgeously written, full of warmth and humour As elegiac and contemplative as one might expect . . .suffused with the joy and wisdom of Gale's mid-life reconnection with music This is what imbues his work with such heart and authenticity, and what makes Take Nothing With You, so readable, so believable, so . . . lovable. You'll be carried along by the music of Gale's prose, his charm, wit and warmth, and his empathy for us, for what it means to be human and other This is an emotionally charged and humane tale beautifully conveying a child's partial view of the world There is a natural warmth to Gale's writing A lovely and lyrical coming-of-age tale Patrick Gale's moving novel is a trag-comic tale of love, loss and acceptance This warm and humane novel is not only about love but also the value of art Gale's novel is generously optimistic. It shows how our past shapes us, but suggests that we can make something from the emotional burdens that we bear Funny and heartfelt