Gabriel's Gift by Hanif Kureishi

Gabriel's Gift

Hanif Kureishi

A coming-of-age story in which 15-year-old Gabriel struggles to develop his artistic side while coping with his parents separation. Can Gabriel's gift stop him falling into the spiral of failure which has swallowed his musician father? A light, enjoyable read with some piqiant insights into the nature of fame, talent, art and the way men and women interact in the real world.

Extract
What a bright place London was, he thought. Here anything could be achieved! You only had to wish high enough.

Of course, he wondered if he might fail at what he wanted, as his father ultimately had. A lot of people wanted to be someone, but who had the tenacity, the commitment, the steely determination? For how many people was it a necessity, a matter of life and death?

Parallels
  • Paddy Clarke Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
  • The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend
  • Toast by Nigel Slater

Rainy day reads