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 Donny’s 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.
"It crackles off the page!" —Alex Wheatle
"A powerful coming-of-age story highlighting the experiences of marginalized youth." —
Kirkus Reviews "Urgent, gripping, relevant and important: I loved
29 Locks." —Anthony McGowan, winner of the Carnegie Award 2020
"This novel is an anthem for the ordinary spirit that burns so fiercely inside each of us. A must-read for all young adults with a desire to be whole." —Aoife Fitzpatrick, winner of the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize 2020"An essential read for the many young people today who can relate to Donny, showing them that amidst all the pain and inequalities of the world, justice can still be served and a future can be built from learning and kindness." —Ms Florence Bauhofer, PLS EAL Department"It’s a perfect book for people my age. Donny inspires me. I would recommend it to all my friends." —Othman, aged 15, Prendergast Ladywell School"An insight into a life of circumstances very different to my own. It showed the importance of knowing that people care about and believe in you." &mdalã%
![29 Locks [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/1/0/4/2_4484706.jpg "29 Locks [Paperback]")