There's Only One Danny Garvey by David F Ross

There's Only One Danny Garvey is not a book I would have normally picked up - it's about football, for heaven's sake! But it came from the Orenda Books stable so I knew there was probably more to it than that... Huge thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me onto this blog tour and to the publisher for my review copy.

The Blurb:

Danny Garvey was a sixteen-year old footballing prodigy. Professional clubs clamoured to sign him, and a glittering future beckoned. And yet, his early promise remained unfulfilled, and Danny is back home in the tiny village of Barshaw to manage the struggling junior team he once played for. What’s more, he’s hiding a secret about a tragic night, thirteen years earlier, that changed the course of several lives. There’s only one Danny Garvey, they once chanted … and that’s the problem.

A story of irrational hopes and fevered dreams – of unstoppable passion and unflinching commitment in the face of defeat – There’s Only One Danny Garvey is, above all, an unforgettable tale about finding hope and redemption in the most unexpected of places. 

My Review:

'There's Only One Danny Garvey' they used to chant. But that was a long time ago and Danny's star no longer shines as brightly. After over a decade away, he is persuaded back home to coach the Barshaw Bridge junior team by Higgy, long time family friend and probably the nearest thing Danny has to a father figure. But Danny is not returning only to the football - he is returning to a mixed reception from the community, a dying mother and a brother in prison. And there was an event many years earlier that still haunts Danny. 

Set in the late 90s against a fab soundtrack, the story is told from Danny's viewpoint throughout. But we also see the thoughts of the other key characters - Higgy, Danny's brother Raymond, Raymond's partner Nancy and their son Damo. They each have a dedicated section where the main narrative is still presented from Danny's point of view with their thoughts interspersed throughout in italics. This is an approach that I don't recall seeing used elsewhere and it threw me initially until I got my head around it. 

Bradshaw is a small down-at-heel Ayrshire town that has been hit hard by unemployment and poverty and is full of toxic masculinity. The football club provides a much needed focus and so the town is invested in the team's results. Told over a make or break season we follow the club's highs and lows. Danny's too. And as the story progresses, it becomes clear that Danny's memories of the past don't tally with those of people around him and that maybe he isn't the most reliable of narrators. 

There is much about this book that is bleak - the town itself and the fortunes of its inhabitants, events of the past, Danny's dysfunctional family, Nancy's relationship with Raymond. But there are uplifting moments - a successful match, Danny's dealings with an elderly woman in the town, an hysterical dinner party (or so they think) that Danny and Nancy attend and Danny's efforts to bond with his nephew, although they are often somewhat clumsy. And the dialogue is written in the Scots colloquial vernacular, which is often entertaining in itself. It might take a bit of getting used to for readers from outside of Scotland, but it's an absolutely perfect fit for this book. 

A love of football shines through this book, but it's about so much more. It's about family and community, love and loss, grief and redemption, hope in the face of adversity. And football, of course. It's a book that you can't help but be moved by, and the ending almost broke me. This was my first book by Ross but it won't be my last. 

The Author:

David F Ross was born in Glasgow in 1964 and has lived in Kilmarnock for over 30 years. He is a graduate of the Mackintosh School of Architecture at Glasgow School of Art, an architect by day, and a hilarious social media commentator, author and enabler by night. His debut novel, The Last Days of Disco, was shortlisted for the Authors Club Best First Novel Award, and received exceptional critical acclaim, as did the other two books in the Disco Days Trilogy: The Rise & Fall of the Miraculous Vespas and The Man Who Loved Islands. David lives in Ayrshire.