Review of Malc's Boy by Shaun Wilson

Malc’s Boy is not only Shaun Wilson’s debut but it is also the first book to be published by Conduit Books, an indie publisher specialising in working class stories and regional voices. Music to this Yorkshire lass’ ears. But this tale took me across the Pennines to The Lake District for a story that explored complicated father-son relationships and what it means to be a man in rural England.

Shaun is the son of Malc, a local pub landlord who is masculine in the way you would traditionally expect an old Cumbrian bloke to be. Shaun is the antithesis of this. He’s a budding artist but Malc struggles to see the use in this as a man who has gained more from money and violence. They have no shared interests and generally struggle to understand each other. It is in this chasm that our story sits, looking bleakly at working-class masculinity but also managing to find beauty there too.

I loved the experimental style in this novel as someone who hasn’t read any autofiction for a while. Written with refreshingly frank, darkly comic dialogue and Cumbrian dialect, I grew really attached to this story and would love to read more by this author, an impressive new voice in literature.

Published on 23.04.2026 by Conduit Books

Reviewed by Danielle

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