The Small Book
The Small Book by Zina Rohan, published by Bright Pen in 2010, is a work of fiction that spans generations, focusing on family life and the complexities of sibling relationships. Set against the backdrop of significant historical events, the narrative begins in July 1915 during the Somme, where Private Ken Hoskins faces a moral dilemma as a member of a firing squad. This experience profoundly impacts his life choices, leading him to join the Communist Party and shape his family’s values. The story then shifts to the summer of 1998 in London, where Ken’s grandchildren, Margaret and Roy, navigate their contrasting lives while grappling with their family’s legacy.
Readers will find a rich exploration of familial bonds and the influence of history on personal identity. The narrative delves into the lives of Margaret, a defense analyst, and Roy, a celebrated photographer, highlighting their similarities and differences as they confront the realities of their upbringing. As they uncover the truths about their past, the story reveals how the inheritance of ideals can diverge in unexpected ways. This edition contains 252 pages and is presented in English, offering a thoughtful examination of the interplay between personal choices and historical context.
Official synopsis Publisher
July 1915, the Somme. Private Ken Hoskins has been detailed to a firing squad to execute a deserter from his own company. This experience so appalls him that when he returns to his native Lancashire he joins the nascent Communist Party and on his marriage determines to bring up his children ‘in the faith’. His daughter, Pam, later moves to London to become secretary to Harry Pollitt, the Party leader. Summer 1998, London. Ken Hoskins’s grandchildren, Margaret and Roy, look alike but could not be more dissimilar. She is a defence analyst; he is a celebrated photographer. She still lives in the King’s Cross council flat where they grew up; he occupies a Holland Park mansion. Yet they are unusually close, kept so by dramatic changes in their lives and the subsequent oddities in their upbringing. But things do not develop as Ken Hoskins had hoped, and for Roy and Margaret the past they thought was their inheritance turns out to be something quite different.
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