Review - The Longest Fight, Emily Bullock

Emily Bullock’s debut novel is rich character piece, a dark story of obsession and sacrifice set in the East End of London in the 1950s. The post-war period is a rich setting for fiction. Rationing was still in force, and London was scarred with bombsites, but the coronation bought a sense of impending change, the possibility of a new era. Like Neil Bartlett’s recent novel The DisappearanceBoy, The Longest Fight is strong on the seediness and gloom of England at this time. Bullock captures a sense of the London underworld, the desperate men trying to claw their way in, and the established figures who 'hadn't suffered under rationing… [you] could see it in the strain of their seams and the brightness of their skin'. History bleeds into the narrative, with references to the coronation, and the murders at Rillington Place.

The story focuses on Jack Munday, a boxing manager looking for the fighter who will give him his big break. After years of slogging around in small time venues, he discovers Frank, a raw talent with the potential to go far. Signing the boy up on the spot, Jack senses a way out of poverty for himself, his sister Pearl, and Georgie, a barmaid who he has been courting. However, both men find themselves held back by obligations to figures from their past: in Frank’s case, a small-time gangster called Spider, and in Jack’s, the sense of duty he feels towards his family, and the memory of his fiancée, Rosie. Both men are forced to confront their pasts, and will be called on to make sacrifices to provide a future for their loved ones.

Jack’s world is resolutely unglamorous: sweaty, dilapidated gyms and pubs with 'beer soaked into the wooden floor and panelled walls'. The smell of embrocation lingers in the air. The supporting cast is full of characters who illustrate the dangers of the life, worn down and broken: Champagne, a faded boxer who 'did the word 'ugly' proud: head swollen from punches, muscles thickening into wood, and a two-day blackout had robbed him of a smile', and Johnny, 'on his way out, hands shaking so much that his trainer had to tie up his shorts'.

As a young man, Jack dreamed of escaping his brutal father and making a new life with Rosie, a young gypsy girl, but he is forced to witness the death of both, and is left with the responsibility of looking after a young family. In adult life, he dreams of moving out of the East End to Southfields. His way out involves hard graft and the possibility of injury. Others around him, like Spider and a young gangster known only as The Thin Suit, who could have walked straight out of a Graeme Greene novel, are looking for a quicker route to the top, and don’t mind using Jack as a way of getting there.

Jack frequently portrays himself as a victim of circumstance, a man whose actions are driven by the obligation to provide for his family, but he overlooks the effect his behaviour has on the people around him. His younger sister, Pearl, is unable to feel pain due to a traumatic childhood accident, and Jack’s desire to protect her from the world leads to tension and conflict. He often treats other people as a means to an end – Frank is his meal-ticket, Georgie is a source of quick relief. He needs to compromise with big figures from the underworld to achieve his aims, but his obligations to them also affect the people around him.

As the novel progresses, Jack’s dreams of escape begin to crumble, and he compromises his values further and further in a desperate bid to keep up. Meanwhile, his domestic situation deteriorates, as he is threatened with losing the family home, and the people surrounding him refuse to fit the roles he has created for them. Despite this, Jack remains a sympathetic character, honourable and tragic. Frank is less memorable, a man who can only properly express himself in the boxing ring, but Georgie and Pearl are both determined, witty and interesting characters.

The Longest Fight is a strong debut: it may be a little over-long, but Bullock creates vivid scenes, particularly the crowded boxing venues, and the dialogue is very believable throughout. The tension is sustained to the end, and the writing never lapses into sentimentality. Ultimately, this is a book about people getting in too deep, and finding it impossible to escape the situations that they have created through their past actions. How far will Jack, Frank and Pearl go to find some room at the top, and how much will they sacrifice to make things right?