Language English Media type Print & eBook Dewey decimal 823.92 | Publication date 2007 (UK), 2010 (US) Pages 128 Originally published 2007 Page count 128 Country United Kingdom | |
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24 for 3 is a 2007 novella by Jennie Walker (a pen name of English poet Charles Boyle); it won the 2008 McKitterick Prize. (awarded to authors over 40 for their first novel) and was selected by Karl Miller of the Times Literary Supplement as one of his books of the year in 2008.
Contents
Title and setting
The title comes from England's second innings score at the start of the final day of a Test cricket match against India, which forms the backdrop to the story; each of the chapters is set on one day of the five-day match; from Friday through to Tuesday.
Author identity
It was only at the Society of Authors awards ceremony in June 2008 that most people realised that the author was in fact a man: 'Many initially assumed Boyle must be Walker's agent when he walked up to accept the £4,000 McMitterick Prize'.
Plot introduction
A woman whose life is split between her lover (a loss adjuster) and husband worries about the whereabouts of her teenage son and wonders about the rules of cricket. Her husband draws elaborate diagrams of fielding positions, in contrast her lover prefers mystery. As the woman becomes more intrigued by the game she draws parallels between the characters in her life and the strategies of the game...
Reception
Publication history
The author, frustrated at his inability to find a publisher, set up his own publishing house CB Editions to get it in to print, using the proceeds of an uncle's will to fund it. After receiving positive reviews the book then gained the backing of Bloomsbury Publishing who published it with a quote on the cover from Mick Jagger saying that he 'loved it'. It was published under the title The Rules of Play in the US by Soho Press in 2010.