On 28 Nov 2013 at 11:07am Deelite 2 wrote:
My interest was sparked by this thread below and despite not having read a book for many years I downloaded the Android Kindle App and bought the book from Amazon (£2.50). The Kindle app was a revelation, what a great way to read a book. Loved the fact that it gauged my reading speed and told me how many hours/minutes it would be before I got to the end. I read the book in two 2.5 hour sittings.
I must be roughly the same age as the author (i'm guessing she'll be between 54 and 57) and also lived in Brighton at the time of punk and the transformation of the North Laine, latterly moving to Lewes District for work and living and to bring up a child. I think of myself as middle class and as such felt I knew the characters and had some sympathy with them (not quite sure sympathy is the word as I pretty much hated the main woman and her next-door-but-one friend, Clare).
It is great to read a book that is so familiar, North Laine, Old Steine, Basket Makers, Hanover/Elm Grove (where I mostly lived whilst in Brighton), all of Lewes, Shelleys, Pelham Arms and of course, Bonfire.
However I think the book stands up in it's own right too and that anyone should find it a good read. The plot is great and the ending gratifying. The characterisation is simple, but for me, easy to fill in the blanks. Everyone who grew up in the 70s and partook in the yoof culture of the time would have known someone like Dougie.
It's an easy book, quick to read and at £2.50, a bargain.
The author. Quite frankly I don't believe it's her first book. It's too well structured and cohesively written. I'm guessing she remains anonymous due to the subject matter and that she has written extensively before (maybe not novels though, but definitely for magazines, blogs etc at the very least). Saying that, the book looks to have taken some time to write. At the time it is set people can still smoke in pubs. In general I felt that the precise time of setting in Lewes was not quite as defined as it might have been. The other side of this is that the author might have spent a fair bit of time honing the plot, and with great results.
After finishing it I spent some time wondering how many alternative endings she had written.
Anyway, as someone who before this has not read a book for years I'd urge anyone who wanted some comfortable and familiar light reading to download this and have a go.
Have Viva Lewes reviewed it yet? If not I guess it's inevitable that they will. It will be interesting to see what they say...... and who reviews it. 
Check it out here »
On 28 Nov 2013 at 11:08am Enry wrote:
May I presume this is not available as a paper book? It would make an interesting Christmas gift if it was available in paper.
On 28 Nov 2013 at 11:44am DM Stone wrote:
Deelite2. Thanks so much. Amazing review. I am quite overwhelmed. Couldn't possibly comment on what you say about me, but I have never published a novel before.
Enry - Sorry. I haven't got a book publisher and the deal with Kindle is that you can only sell it there for a set period. After that, I don't know.
On 28 Nov 2013 at 10:48pm Earl of Lewes wrote:
Is this what they call 'viral marketing'? I'd love to believe that Deelite is real, but that post seems a bit fishy. By the way, if you want to read a really good book set in the local area, I'd recommend William Nicholson's 'The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life'. Lewes features quite a bit. And no, I'm not William Nicholson.
On 28 Nov 2013 at 10:59pm DM Stone wrote:
No. Not true. If you've lurked on this site for as long as I have you will know that Deelite is a regular here.
I have never met Deelite.
On 29 Nov 2013 at 8:48am Deelite 2 wrote:
Nothing to do with the author at all, I just genuinely enjoyed the book. If DM Stone is who I suspect she is then I am almost certain we have met in the past... or at least been in the same room together.
As for 'The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life'. My wife's reading group did this and as William Nicholson lives in our village invited him along. They were very surprised when he said yes!
So we have it here in book form and I shall read it. Thanks EofL.
On 29 Nov 2013 at 9:20am Willy Shakey wrote:
I thought Deelite was a female??
I don't think Deelite/DM Stone is going to get rich as an author anytime soon..
On 29 Nov 2013 at 9:30am DM Stone wrote:
I wonder, deelite... Maybe sometime in the late 70s. Sounds like we hung around in the same places. If you have guessed, you can email me and I may, or may not, confirm it... It's been really great that the book has reached some people who 'got' it. Made it all worthwhile.
And no, I don't think I will get rich. On the current showing about 97% percent of readers have downloaded it for free. That's not why I wrote it though.
I will read the Nicholson book too.
On 29 Nov 2013 at 9:53am Deelite 2 wrote:
Ha ha ha. You might find I was Dougie! :-)
On 29 Nov 2013 at 10:21am DM Stone wrote:
I have worked out who you are too though
On 29 Nov 2013 at 1:02pm Reader wrote:
I still think DM Stone is male. There are too many observations in the book that are not from a woman's point of view (IMHO). Or maybe DM Stone is a woman trying to sound like a bloke trying to sund like a woman. Oh No!! A triple bluff!!
On 29 Nov 2013 at 4:13pm Kettle wrote:
What makes you think that women don't know what goes on in men's heads?
On 29 Nov 2013 at 5:37pm Zebedee wrote:
Because men couldn't possibly tell them.
On 5 Dec 2013 at 12:38am Dave wrote:
DM Stone I'd definitely male, of that there is no doubt
On 5 Dec 2013 at 8:38am DM Stone wrote:
I am definitely male, or female.
But what makes you think you know which?