Gamekeeper

Through the changing seasons, amidst a sprawling ducal country estate, ex-steelworker George Purse's role as a gamekeeper goes beyond mere employment. With determination, he safeguards the birds, nurturing them with care, even as they become targets for the wealthy elite.As the Glorious Twelfth approaches, George must orchestrate flawless hunts for the Duke and his esteemed guests, ensuring their satisfaction while fending off the persistent poachers who threaten the delicate balance of the land.A masterpiece of nature writing as well as a radical statement on work and class, "e;The Gamekeeper"e; stands as a haunting classic of twentieth-century fiction.Barry Hines (1939-2016), born into a mining family in South Yorkshire, had a diverse career from coal mining to teaching before becoming a renowned writer. His most famous work, "e;A Kestrel for a Knave,"e; has never been out of print in the UK and was brought to life by Ken Loach in the film adaptation "e;Kes"e;."e;The purpose of [the gamekeeper's] life is absurd . . . Marginally, in the vitality of some of the wild birds or animals around him the gamekeeper deposits his minimal belief that life has another dimension . . . An outstanding book, which I read with admiration."e; --John Berger"e;His ear for the dialect and its comedy was pitch perfect . . . Barry understood class politics, the irreconcilable conflict between workers and employers. His book The Gamekeeper, which we filmed, captured this exactly. The title character is an ex-steel worker who now protects the land of the aristocracy and chases off his former workmates. A life in the open air for him means social exclusion for his wife and family. Is he changing sides or swapping one form of exploitation for another? Barry loved such contradictions."e; --Ken Loach, The Guardian"e;He has a very rare quality of loaded simplicity, a kind of eloquent stillness . . . it is the marvellously detailed observation of real unsentimental country life which compels attention as grippingly as any thriller. When bolder, gaudier stuff is long forgotten, Mr Hines's writing stays in the mind and nourishes it."e; --Sunday Telegraph"e;The feel and texture of country working-class life can seldom have been more faithfully recorded than they are here . . . I think this book has a quiet kind of value, easily missed, worthy of any reader's patience."e; --Robert Nye, The Guardian"e;The eye and the ear for country matters are as lethal as a crack shot on the Glorious Twelfth."e; --The Times"e;[The Gamekeeper] slyly evolves intoimplied criticism of the power imbalance between working-class George and thearistocratic Duke. Hines (1939-2016) skillfully writes in the tradition of suchNorth England writers as Alan Sillitoe and Keith Waterhouse. This offers a convincingtake on the strictures of class."e; --Publisher's Weekly"e;Hines has a keen eyefor nature, and his prose is at its finest when describing Purse's adventureson the lush landscapes, especially his interactions with animals."e; --KirkusReviews"e;A powerfully political novel that sidestepsovert polemic, The Gamekeeperobserves, with studied neutrality, the beauty and brutality of the naturalworld and contrasts it with the wilful brutality of the sporting estate. Ourhero is, of necessity, a cog in a system that warps the land and those who workit into status symbols. It is a dynamic from which, nearly fifty years on, westill have not escaped. The Gamekeeperis a compelling novel-as-documentary that deserves a new generation of readers."e;--Gregory Norminton