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Ray Noble
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It Wasn't Always Late Summer Kindle Edition

by Ray Noble (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 15 ratings
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This is a powerful story of Mary, a single teenage mother, living on a housing estate plagued with predatory abuse and prostitution, and Annie, an innocent girl whose ghostly presence links the central characters over two generations, bringing the events that led to her death, the loss of innocence and the unfolding story to a dramatic, thrilling conclusion.
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  1. Print length
    173 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    January 19, 2014
  4. File size
    457 KB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Academic, writer, musician and singer-songwriter, this is Ray Noble's first novel. Growing up in a one-parent family on a social housing estate he left school at 15. His writing draws on this early life experience. He has held honorary professorships in medical ethics in India and South Africa and taught medical ethics and physiology at University College London. He is news editor of Voices from Oxford.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00HY1M31M
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 19, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 457 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 173 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1494862077
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 15 ratings

About the author

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Ray Noble

Ray Noble

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Ray Noble grew up in a one-parent family on a social housing estate in the 1950s/60s. His last school report said of him that there could be no reason why public money should be wasted on his education. He left school at 15. His writing draws from this early life experience in exploring his characters. He is a 'retired' academic teaching ethics and physiology at University College London, so maybe he had the last laugh on the education front. He is a musician, composer, singer and songwriter. He is lead vocalist with the Oxford Trobadors and has appeared on radio and television. He has appeared on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour and Radio 3 Night Waves. He was also featured in the popular '21st Century Girl's Guide To Sex'. His music has featured on Korean and French Television and in British Radio broadcasts. He likes to explore the social and psychological dynamics of his characters.

Customer reviews

3.5 out of 5 stars
15 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • LelanieBoulle
    4.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully written story juxtaposing gentleness against cruelty...
    Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Starting on a whimsical note with missing Annie and her balloon, we are soon introduced to the harsh reality of living in a poor estate. The characters are beautifully described, with gentle Rose and Mary in stark contrast with the cruelty of Buddy Spencer. The underlying threat of violence is like a snake waiting to strike. I highly recommend this book to readers who love a beautifully written story with a touch of fantasy woven into it.
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  • james schwaber
    5.0 out of 5 stars An intense, gripping and highly personal thriller, with a modern ghost
    Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Ray Noble’s It Wasn't Always Late Summer is a mystery/suspense story of Mary, a teenage mother living in a broken down housing estate and Annie, a child whose life had been stolen a generation before and whose ghostly presence links the central characters in a dramatic conclusion.

    I will not recapitulate the plot in any detail for fear of “spoilers” of the very intimate, intense experience of reading this powerful story. It is a very sad, personal story of loss of innocence, in a culture infested with predatory abuse, drugs and prostitution. It explores what turns an abused into an abuser and the culture of abuse through the characters. It has a “ghost” in it whose presence lends the narrative a mythical character. The ghost also provides the thread that pulls the story together through time, and is the handmaiden of a truly uplifting and very emotional ending.

    The story is very sad, I had to put it down for the night several times as I started getting too choked up and could not stand to read more, having a sense of dread for the characters. There is such a sense of vulnerability - of both the males and females characters - but in particular it brings the abuse of girls into sharp focus, the culture of abuse. There is no explicit sex in this book. It works through the impact on the characters. The story enables you to empathize with the characters, even with the abusers, by a very intimate, realistic description of the experience, the stream consciousness of the abusers and the abused, as the situations develop and unfold. It explores what led these characters to be what they are, what the factors were that interacted over time. As one comes to understand these dynamics it lets the whole sad and sorry story be felt, painfully.

    There is a lot to consider in the cultural dependency of abuse, and our personal isolation with our adolescent urges. Noble’s characterizations capture this, as in an abuser’s torment in his belief all women are deliberately tormenting him with their sexuality, reflecting our popular culture's Madonna-whore trope. Nice girls don't have a sex drive and don't provoke one in you. The story shows the dynamics and the ‘vulnerabilities’ that are the consequence of this aspect of our culture. I was led to recognize elements of this kind of vulnerability in my own life and particularly at school.

    Especially the early parts of the book are very nostalgic to me, I had not realized how very much that growing up, the school and play experiences, the rhymes and songs etc. were the same for the UK as for myself in the US. These early passages are set in the past in a time of difficult economic transitions, and prior to increased public awareness of some of these issues, especially sexual abuse and "grooming" of gullible young girls. In the present time in the US I certainly have been thoroughly educated about the penalties of even the perception of sexual abuse. At the same time I wonder if there is something in the culture about adolescence that makes girls vulnerable, to so easily consent to all this, responsive to grooming. The culture is so ‘sex’ saturated, and sex so commoditized, depersonalized, perhaps the mind set of a young girl is conditioned to be eager to gain value by emulating that. This story personalizes all this and shows how it affects people’s lives, which is why it is so sad. What strikes me is the high levels of abuse and perhaps we can no longer go on turning a blind eye to it. The apparently widespread presence of abuse and trafficking is getting a lot of exposure, making me wonder who are the customers among our neighbors – who, as the story has it, are acquiring black splotches on their moral histories. No doubt the solutions require an understanding of the cultural aspects of it.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Sheena Edgar
    5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 9, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    This is an excellent first novel by Ray Noble, and I highly recommend the book as an interesting and thought-provoking read.

    The central character is eighteen year-old Mary who lives on a rough council estate with her partner Paul, and young daughter, Michelle. The story follows Mary during a traumatic time, and introduces a range of fascinating characters with both positive and negative influences on her life. Unexpectedly, the book starts with “Annie” who has her own story but who also follows Mary’s story from a distance.

    The characterisation in the book is brilliant and entirely believable. From page one, I was completely drawn into the story and found the book difficult to put down. Ray has a real understanding of what makes people “tick” and I look forward to reading his next book.
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  • PenPal
    5.0 out of 5 stars It Was Always Superbly Moving...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 29, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    This is a stunning first time novel - truly accomplished with a wealth of extremely well-developed characters.
    The dialogue flows beautifully drawing us into the world - or worlds - of Mary, Annie et al.
    It made me laugh out loud and well as moving me to tears.
    It is a mystery - or rather there are mysterious elements - at the core - who is Annie? But more than that it has the reader feeling for each of the characters and wanting to understand who and why they are how they are. This truly is a story about the spirit of humanity in all its forms. And what binds us all together over generations and in other realms.

    I loved it!
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