A Kestrel for a Knave
By Barry Hines
1968
First Published
4.07
Average Rating
194
Number of Pages
Life is tough and cheerless for Billy Casper, a troubled teenager growing up in the small Yorkshire mining town of Barnsley. Treated as a failure at school, and unhappy at home, Billy discovers a new passion in life when he finds Kes, a kestrel hawk. Billy identifies with her silent strength and she inspires in him the trust and love that nothing else can, discovering through her the passion missing from his life. Barry Hines' acclaimed novel continues to reach new generations of teenagers and adults with its powerful story of survival in a tough, joyless world.
Avg Rating
4.07
Number of Ratings
7,889
5 STARS
38%
4 STARS
38%
3 STARS
18%
2 STARS
4%
1 STARS
1%
goodreads
Author
Barry Hines
Author · 7 books
Barry Hines (June 30, 1939 – March 18, 2016) was an English author, playwright, and screenwriter. His novels and screenplays explore the political and economic struggles of working-class Northern England, particularly in his native West Riding / South Yorkshire. He is best known for the novel A Kestrel for a Knave (1968), which he helped adapt for Ken Loach's film Kes (1969). He also collaborated with Loach on adaptations of his novels Looks and Smiles (1981) and The Gamekeeper, and a 1977 two-part television drama adaption of his book The Price of Coal. He also wrote the television film Threads, which depicts the impact of a nuclear war on Sheffield.
