A little while ago DJ recommended a book to me which I promised I would read and write a review. This isn't something I'd done before and was a little reticent in case I hated the book and then had to slate it. Fortunately my worries were unfounded as I thoroughly enjoyed reading GENTS by Warwick Collins.
To be honest if I'd seen the book and picked it up I'd have probably put it straight back on the shelf. The cover is a row of large white sinks affixed to a sterile tiled wall with the promise of GENTS a novel. I've been in plenty of gents toilets in my time, most of which were very unsavoury, so why on earth would I want to read a novel about one?
Nevertheless I sat down with a large mug of tea, the book and a hint of trepidation. Apart from one trip to the loo (must buy smaller mugs) I didn't move from my spot until I finished it. Granted the book only has 172 pages but it was wonderfully written, I was able to transport myself into the world of EZ, Jason and Reynolds. By the end of the fifth chapter I had decided I knew how the story would end, I was wrong!
Gents held some form of nostalgia for me; not the fact I once got locked in a public toilet when my penny got stuck, or the time late at night two men emerged from the same cubicle causing me no end of consternation but for the BBC series of the Seventies/early Eighties, Play for Today. This tale would have slotted in there nicely portraying an unsavoury part of life in a serious, sympathetic and humorous way!
If you get an oppourtunity read a copy of Gents by Warwick Collins, you won't be disappointed!
