A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines

Barry Hines's A Kestrel for a Knave, published in 1968, was made into one of the key British films of the sixties. Billy Casper is beaten by his drunken brother, ignored by his mother and failing at school. He seems destined for a hard, miserable life down the pits, but for a brief time, he finds one pleasure in life: a wild kestrel that he has raised and tamed himself.

A Kestrel for a Knave is a day in the very difficult life of a young man in a terribly poor part of England. Billy finds little happiness—not at home with his mother and brother, not at school with his (mostly) cruel teachers and taunting peers—in his life. It is only when he trains a hawk that he feels peace.

Because I work with many, many children who come from the 2017 American version of the main characters in Kestrel, I found the story to be like walking with a poor kid for a whole day. I was appalled by that walk, especially by the actions of some of my educational peers of that time and place.

It felt like a visit to a foreign land, though it wasn't just because of the setting; poverty of that sort is outside my personal experience, and, I imagine, completely outside the experience of most of our leaders, the people who make decisions, in theory, for the people of their organizations and all the people they represent.

This is what life is like for so many children. A Kestrel for a Knave is a vivid picture of life for working class people everywhere. Policymakers...voters...teachers...this is a book you should read.

Absolute classic - I loved it. With soaring uplifting moments, beautiful nature writing, but full of poverty and tragedy. Full review on my blog here: https://annabookbel.net/book-group-report-yorkshire-classic-barry-hines-kes-kestrel-knave