Kilburn Social Club by Robert Hudson - book review
Fun in places but a struggle to finish, this novel about the struggles and trials of a football club, its players and owners is a forgettable debut: yellow card
17 August 2009
Robert Hudson’s footy-focused debut novel is having an identity crisis.
Is it just another book about the beautiful game, a dynastic saga or a fluffy romance? In trying to do a “Nick Hornby” and write for footy buffs and philistines alike, Hudson scores a literary own goal.
The complicated story revolves around a utopian football club owned by a benevolent Irish family. Philosophers, scientists, singers and South African freedom fighters play alongside each other on equal salaries, coached by mysterious war hero Mr Brown.
Once the family patriarch pops his clogs in an unfortunate accident, it’s left to his two daughters (Esther and Aisling) to catfight it out over the club.
Alerted to their squabbles, evil magnate Strabis Kinsale hatches a dastardly plot to seize the empire. Will the girls unite to protect their legacy? Or will the age-old lures of lust, money and power tear it all apart?
Unfortunately, Hudson’s characters are so two-dimensional, the football commentary so long-winded, and the plot so rambling that we end up not really caring either way.
Fun in places but a struggle to finish, this is a forgettable debut. Yellow card.
Kilburn Social Club by Robert Hudson, Jonathan Cape, £12.99
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