29 Locks

Fast-paced, tragic and tender, 29 Locks is an unflinching depiction of urban teen life. Growing up in Hackney with his loving but troubled single mum, fifteen-year-old Donny's life has been shaped by poverty, crime and casual violence, including grooming by a local gang. When his mum is jailed for drugs offences, Donny is fostered outside London to the Hertfordshire countryside. Life in the rural Home Counties is a bit like landing on another planet but doing work experience on the Hertford Union Canal, Donny feels like he's finally found his purpose. When Donny's posh new friend Zoe is offered a dubious modelling audition in London, the pair decide to 'borrow' a canal barge and navigate the 29 locks down to Kings Cross. As they start out on their journey the future looks as unpromising as Zoe's fake audition. But as each lock is navigated and conquered, their adventures take on a new dimension, and life will never be the same again. Fifteen-year-old Donald Leroy Samson is the son of an absentee St. Lucian father and a drug-addicted English mother. Growing up in dire poverty in Hackney, East London, his life is shaped by casual violence, gang initiation, drug-dealing, and knife crime. When Donnys bored, rich, white girlfriend Zoe is offered a dubious modeling audition, the couple "borrow" a barge and navigate the 29 locks on the canal system from Hertfordshire down into Kings Cross. When they start out on their journey, the future for both of them looks unpromising, like the fake audition, but as each lock is navigated and conquered, as the waters fall then rise again, their adventure takes on a new dimension. Life will never be the same again. A gritty, urban tale of redemption. "Meet Donald Leroy Samson, an ex-gang Younger from Hackney. Born into poverty, and groomed by violent gangs, Donny's early life was tough. Now, at the age of 15, he's being fostered in the rural safety of Herfordshire. During his Year Ten work experience on the Union Canal, Donny learns that the canal network leads through 29 locks back to Hackney. Determined to meet his mum, who will soon be released from prison for drug offences, Donny 'borrows' a narrowboat to make the journey back to London."-- Back cover 29 LOCKS address the on-going epidemic of knife crime, gang grooming and violence that blights urban communities. This is unique in presenting an affectionate and respectful portrayal of a drug-dependent mother, and the experience of being a child who has a parent detained in the prison system.