This book is the story of Liam Parry, and he is quite a guy! Throughout the course of the book, he enjoys psychiatric nurse training, nursing, management, following round gig tours and lots more, including plenty of steamy and graphic sex. He’s also an accomplished dude, a bit of an opportunist, a product of his generation and birthplace, and an all-round nice guy who certainly seems to attract the girls and the (older) women.
Though Liam was, at times, a rogue, he was also romantic, sweet and a very likeable character - and this is largely to do with the way he has been created by Peter McGeehan. Because the book has been written in the style of an autobiography, the reader gets good insights into the mindset, past and present, of this young and vibrant northern man. Peter M writes a tale of its time, though in many ways young Liam is a man ahead of his time.
This book is endearing and sentimental, yet also practical and basic. There’s not a trace of pretentiousness or literary fumbling in sight, but what the reader does get is a huge big slice of a Liverpool lad’s life from the early 60s to the early 90s – with accompanying characters and mood-setting. I feel like I would have liked Liam, had I met him. And I liked this book too.
I’ve started and stopped reading quite a large number of books recently. I don’t know the reason, but I’ve been unable to get into them, and have quickly lost patience. But this book didn’t affect me like that. Though it has almost 300 pages, I didn’t skim. I didn’t rush. I didn’t grudgingly sit through my reading time with a pained expression on my face. Instead I smiled at the happy bits and found myself moved at the sad bits. This is the kind of historical fiction I can really get my teeth into.
I greatly enjoyed this romp into the past, and can’t wait to read any sequels that may be in the pipeline.
Peter says: Thank you to Scott Martin Productions for this generous review of 'Loves of a Liverpool lad'. The book is a large bowl of Liverpool soup with ingredients taken from a variety of real life characters with a smattering of pure fiction. The greatest joy for any writer is to provide enjoyment to readers and I can say that this book has done just that in almost all cases although the more conservative have not found comfort in some of the scenes described. Hey Ho; you can't please everyone. Sequels are in the pipeline but they won't follow quickly due to the research involved. Once again. Thank you.