Book review: We Go Around In The Night And Are Consumed By Flames

STYLISTICALLY similar to Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting, the characters in Jules Grant’s debut novel do not only speak in dialect, they narrate in it too.

Jules Grant

Myriad Editions, £8.99;

ebook, £7.12

Set in Manchester’s seedy crime underworld, We Go Around In The Night And Are Consumed By Flames follows the story of lesbian criminal Donna and her goddaughter Aurora.

It’s a common case of warring gangs, drugs, gun crime, and murder, but uniquely it’s presented from a distinctly female gaze, and although it’s unflinching in its gritty portrayal of Manchester, there are funny moments and tender passages that take the reader by surprise.

The author has created brilliantly layered characters, especially in Donna, the hard-bitten head of the Bronte Close Gang and the 10-year-old goddaughter left in her care.

Grant’s book has its fair share of violence and vengeance, but it’s also a heartbreaking and tender read about love and the relationships that tie us together.