Latest News

Interview: Writers on Research

19th October 2021 Latest News, Other

Sharon Duggal on home, Rohinton Mistry and ‘Should We Fall Behind’ As part of his interview series Writers on Research, Joe Bedford spoke to author Sharon Duggal on the research process behind her novel Should We Fall Behind (Bluemoose Books, 2020). I’d like to start by asking how you approached researching homelessness, one of the core themes of Should We Fall Behind. It is of course a sensitive subject as well as a prescient one, and I wondered what challenges you encountered when lookingRead More

Review: Wasafiri Magazine

30th September 2021 Latest News, Reviews

Should We Fall Behind is Sharon Duggal’s follow-up to her debut novel The Handsworth Times, both published by Hebden Bridge’s Bluemoose Books, which dedicated to exclusively showcasing the work of female authors. In an interview Duggal has said that she was making the final edits to the book when the pandemic hit. Although the book doesn’t reference the pandemic directly, its themes, characters, and subject matter provide a frame of reference to contextualise attitudes towards society and fellow human beingsRead More

BBC2 TV Book Club Between the Covers – Transmission dates confirmed

8th May 2021 Latest News, Other, Uncategorised

Should We Fall Behind features in Episode 2 – 17th May 2021, BBC2 7.30pm. Between the Covers Episode 2Comedian Rachel Parris, chef Rick Stein, actor and comedian Rob Delaney and presenter Vick Hope.Episode 2 Between the Covers: 12 books for the summer Should We Fall Behind by Sharon Duggal Jimmy Noone walks from one side of a sprawling city to the other, looking for Betwa, a friend he found and lost on the bustling city streets. Jimmy becomes the catalystRead More

Shortlisted for 2021 RSL ENCORE AWARD

8th May 2021 Latest News, Other, Uncategorised

Should We Fall Behind has been shortlisted for the prestigious Royal Society of Literature’s Encore Award 2021. The prize celebrates ‘outstanding’ second novels The Encore Award The Encore Award was first presented in 1990 to celebrate the achievement of outstanding second novels. The Award fills a niche in the catalogue of literary prizes. The RSL has administrated the award since 2016. The Encore Award 2021 We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the Encore Award 2021, for best secondRead More

BBC TV Book Club chooses Should We Fall Behind by Sharon Duggal

16th March 2021 Latest News, Other

BBC 2 Book Club chooses Should We Fall Behind by Sharon Duggal The new series of BBC 2 TV Book Club, Between The Covers, hosted by Sara Cox, has chosen Should We Fall Behind by Sharon Duggal as one of 6 recently-published books to be featured on the show alongside bestselling books from last year. The six-part TV series will be aired in May 2021 and each show will see a celebrity panel discuss a big hitter book as well as a newly-published book which, according to the show’sRead More

Prima Magazine – the Oct/Nov Book of the Month and a Book of the Year 2020

13th March 2021 Latest News, Other, Uncategorised

Nina Pottell, Books Editor at Prima Magazine chose Should We Fall Behind as her Book of the Month, Oct/Nov 2020 and went on to include it as one of her Books of the Year 2020.

Review: The TLS

21st January 2021 Latest News, Reviews

Better together A novel of poverty, struggle – and solidarity By David Collard January 22, 2021 should we fall behind 310pp. Bluemoose. £15 (paperback, £9.99).Sharon Duggal In 2016 the Yorkshire-based Bluemoose Books published Sharon Duggal’s The Handsworth Times. The novel was set in the Birmingham district where the author grew up, and vividly described the challenges faced by an ordinary South Asian family at a time of political and economic turmoil, high unemployment, racial tension, National Front marches and the 1981 riots.Read More

Review: The Guardian

3rd December 2020 Latest News, Reviews

Fiction Should We Fall Behind – home and homelessness Wed 2 Dec 2020 09.00 GM: Catherine Taylor This intensely humane second novel, focused on a city’s ‘invisibles’, amplifies the questions Covid-19 has brought into sharp focus In October, homelessness charities reported a sharp increase in the number of young people sleeping rough in London. Although written before the pandemic, Should We Fall Behind, Sharon Duggal’s measured, intensely humane second novel about the “invisible” among us, amplifies the questions Covid-19 has brought into sharpRead More

Interview: Eastern Eye Newspaper

21st November 2020 Latest News, Other

November 18, 2020 Sharon Duggal: Exploring universal experiences through multi-cultural voices CONNECTING LIVES: Sharon Duggal AUTHOR SHARON DUGGAL DISCUSSES HER NEW NOVEL, WRITING CHALLENGES AND INSPIRATIONS by MITA MISTRY HAVING grown up as a part of a large extended Punjabi family in Birmingham and being one of six siblings, Sharon Duggal often retreated into books as a way of finding her own place in a busy household. Books being a connection to a wider world, beyond the parameters of aRead More

Yorkshire Times: Interview

28th October 2020 Latest News, Other

Author Interview: Sharon Duggal  Should We Fall Behind by Sharon Duggal is a gritty yet tender novel giving life to people often ignored. It is a story set in any British city; a story of the homeless, the immigrants, the bereaved, the lonely; the story of all of us – but one not often told. Following homeless protaganist Jimmy in his search for a friend, the novel weaves its way in and out of the lives of the strangers he encounters.Read More

Books

  • Should We Fall Behind
    Should We Fall Behind
  • The Handsworth Times
    The Handsworth Times
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