Keshed

Stu Hennigan author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Ortac Press

Publishing:12th Feb '26

£12.99

This title is due to be published on 12th February, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

Keshed cover

In the derelict shell of what was once his family home, a dying man surveys the wreckage of his former life and drinks himself senseless, haunted by the chain of events that led him there.

Dark, complex and visceral, Keshed is an unflinching character study exploring class, belonging, fatherhood and conflicting ideals of modern masculinity.

At heart it's the story of a relationship struggling to cope with the impossible pressures of raising a child under late-stage capitalism; but it's also a love letter to the working class North, from the grinding poverty of Thatcher's 80's to the present day.


'Stu Hennigan is one of my favourite writers. His voice is unmistakable and always compelling. Keshed, in its presentation of class and fatherhood, displays verve, fearlessness and total commitment to its characters and their world. It's brutal and beautiful.' Wendy Erskine, author of The Benefactors

'What a f*****g triumph. Heartbreaking, vicious and so brilliant.' Heidi James, author of The Sound Mirror

'Keshed is a novel of fierce power, with a voice that rips from the page. It's propelled by desperate yearnings: for feeling, for connection, for release from the tethers of addiction and trauma, of society and the self. It stares down hopelessness, and bursts with defiant desire.' James Scudamore, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award

'It's like reading a Molotov cocktail.'Rose Ruane, Women's Prize-longlisted author of Birding

'Timely and urgent. Hennigan is one of the country's finest writers on the confluence of capitalism and class ... a beautiful, visceral, gut-punch of a novel.' Angharad Hampshire, Walter Scott Prize-shortlisted author of The Mare

'Profane, darkly funny, and unflinching in its focus on the wreckage of ordinary lives. Hennigan is a voice we need.' Naomi Booth, author of raw content and Exit Management

'An incredibly powerful book. Immersive, visceral and compelling.' Mark Bowles, Goldsmiths Prize-shortlisted author of All My Precious Madness

'I want to use the words 'gritty and brutal' to describe this phenomenal work but 'beautiful and intricate' need to be alongside them to full do justice to this visceral textual landscape. It's a book that both takes and gives. Like great art.' Juno Roche, author of A Working Class Family Ages Badly

ISBN: 9781738466764

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

400 pages