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The site of writer, tech journalist and editor Ian Barker.
I currently have two published novels, a book of short stories and several non-fiction pieces. Feel free to explore the site to find out more.
Site copyright (c) 2020
My second novel One Hot Summer is about the pleasures and pains of growing up and a snapshot of life in mid 1970s Britain.
John Burton is seventeen, it’s 1976 and his life is about to change in ways he’s carefully planned and ways he can’t yet know. In a tale encompassing love, sex, friendship, rivalry, guilt, death and with a little help from a cartoon devil; for a boy to discover the pleasures and pains of adult life, all it takes is One Hot Summer...
Ask anyone who was around in Britain during 1976 about the summer and they're likely to go all misty eyed and talk of scorching hot days, standpipes and plagues of ladybirds. In the UK 1976 was the hottest summer for 350 years with the temperature exceeding 80 Fahrenheit somewhere in the country every day between 22 June and 16 July.
The country's economic and industrial woes took a back seat as sunshine and drought captured the headlines. In 2004 the New Economics Foundation named it as the year for best for quality of life, based on indicators such as crime rate, pollution levels and public sector investment. This despite - or maybe because of - the fact that the average wage was £72 a week and nobody owned a computer. If you were a teenager it was a great time to be alive. Music was changing too as glam rock and prog began to give way to the energy and anger of punk.
Set in this extraordinary season, One Hot Summer is a story of teenage obsession and insecurity; of sensual experience and terminal embarrassment; of learning about life whilst still fighting to understand yourself.
Available to buy from Amazon now.
Enjoy the book’s Spotify playlist below.
Or for an alternative soundtrack try Bob Stanley’s 76 In The Shade.