Contemporary East End London is the backdrop to a story steeped in individual and family rivalry, revolving around the gym and the boxing ring, and Bobby - the Boxer Handsome of the story. Balancing hope with despair, dreams with realism, wearing the scars of past mistakes, the book skilfully guides the reader through conflicting emotions.
Booby the Yid and the Gypsy Boy. Same weight, same height. Dragged into the same boxing club as boys. They'd skipped and sparred together for thirteen years. Won and lost the same. Trained on the same bags, on the same pads, at the same club, at the same time. They'd shared a childhood. Their bodies growing, battered and beaten and better again. Two faces of the club. The tale of the tape read the same for both fighters. Both brick-jawed, strong-legged boxers, built for the fight under white lights. Nothing between them but the places they came from. And her.
