The Whale Tattoo

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The exploration of the main character and his relationship with Fysh (his lover) is almost too painful to bear as the novel unfolds. As time goes on and we learn more about them, the characters gain more complexity giving the story a rich texture. This too goes for Fysh's wife Dora, the narrators dad, as well as his late mother and his sister. If you only read one debut novel this year make it this one. The Whale Tattoo is a book of visceral, magnetic raw pulsating beauty. A mesmeric, gritty tour de force. We haven’t read a novel this brilliant since Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski. This book is the reason that people love to read.’ Attitude Magazine I can’t recall the last time I read a novel with such a sense of place. Joe talks to the water, and the water answers, but the prose is filled with descriptions of the salt marshes and the dykes, the river and the sea, and the trawlers bringing home the shellfish catch. Everything about the prose is visceral. You breathe the salt air, hear the slap of water against the banks, smell the oil and petrol and the choking diesel fumes. See the litter and the broken-down buildings, the listing boats, the mirror reflections of the sky. It’s been a year since you finished on the Escalator programme – how has the experience shaped your approach to writing and your writing process now you’ve had a little distance from it?

The Whale Tattoo’ is a stunning achievement - one of the most impressive and assured debuts I’ve ever read’ Matt Cain It took me a while to read The Whale Tattoo by Jon Ransom. This is the kind of book that I like to take my time with, and I did that. Having stormed out two years ago, it won’t be easy, nor will returning to the haunted river beside the house where words ripple beneath the surface washing up all sorts of memories. Joe turns to his sister, Birdee, the only person who has ever listened. But she can't help him, she drowned two years ago. Then there’s Tim Fysh, local fisherman and long-time lover. But reviving their bond is bound to be trouble.These timeline jumps and disjointed narration did require some adjustment, and for me, hovered around the line between reader absorption and confusion, usually ending on the right side. (I should add that this may be in part due to the formatting issues in my review copy, which often made the writing more fractured than intended).

The Whale Tattoo’ is a stunning achievement - one of the most impressive and assured debuts I’ve ever read'. Matt Cain Queer and working-class I hear ‘no’ a lot. Escalator and NCW is all about saying ‘yes’, to diversity, inclusivity, to championing every kind of writer at all stages of their career. The greatest thing I walked away from Escalator with was the belief that what I have to say has value. It would be a tremendous loss to limit access to the arts for under-represented voices who ache to be heard. An astonishing book. Jon Ransom’s writing manages to be simultaneiously brutal and violent as well as poetic and moving. The quality of his prose if mesmerising’ Linda Jill, Linda’s Book Bag I can strongly recommend The Whale Tattoo…I cannot recall when a book – especially one from a first-time author – had such an effect on me’ Rob Harkavy, Out News Global Joe left his family for a couple of years. The events that sparked that are revealed slowly throughout the novel. His constant companion is the river... the water whispering truths and lies to him, drawing him closer and giving him a constant sense of doom. It all began with a dead whale on the shore and things have been slipping from Joe's control ever since.With assured narrative, a vivid sense of place and atmosphere, and flint-sharp dialogue, Jon Ransom has written a novel that is bleak and brutal, but never sentimental.. utterly authentic and cruelly beautiful’ Matt Bates

As the water settles and Joe learns the truth about the river, he finds that we all have the capability to hate, and that we can all make the choice not to.Each year, Escalator provides a cohort of emerging writers from the East of England with bespoke mentoring, skills development masterclasses, industry connections and showcases.

Raw, uncompromising, and authentic, a remarkable debut from an astonishingly gifted writer' Golnoosh Nour Jon Ransom grew up in Norfolk. His short fiction has been published in SAND Journal, Foglifter Press (Lambda Literary finalist for LGBTQ Anthology), Five:2:One, and others. An extract of The Whale Tattoo was selected for the TLC/A.M. Heath Free Reads anthology and in 2018, Jon was selected as a mentee for the 2018/19 NCW Escalator Talent Development Scheme. This was an incredibly immersive and compelling read, that was at times dizzying, often heartbreaking, and with just enough hopefulness to keep my head above water. Thankfully, and unlike so many queer novels, this isn’t a book of “misery porn”. Joe’s life takes horrid turns but the reader never loses sight of the potential for growth, making The Whale Tattoo a surprisingly enjoyable and cathartic read. Seldom, outside the realms of gay royalty like Alan Hollinghurst, have I read a novel about gay people so well written. Right from the start there is crudeness and a constant barrage of swearing from the first-person narrator – totally justified in my opinion, and I am someone who doesn’t swear. Joe is crude, with his smoking and drinking and rough way of speaking but is the most rounded and believable character I have read in a long time.

Featured Reviews

The narrator of the story has returned to his hometown to reunite with his lover, Fysh, and his family, torn asunder by dysfunction and tragedy. The story assumes a non linear structure, almost like throwing broken pieces on the ground and arranging them into a collage, an epic of loss and ultimately hope. Ransom’s text bleeds between events and memories giving Joe an uneasy, distracted air. His emotions get the best of him and he gets lost in the past when the present gets overwhelming. It’s a gripping read, unpredictable but emotionally coherent. Joe and Dora’s interactions spark with unspoken knowledge and emotions. The prose, like Joe’s mind, slides between events, always inhabiting an insecure, liminal space. It manages to be both blunt and poetic all at once.