The Cut

Ant’s a broken man. His way of coping is through compulsively collecting vinyl records. He does so because a year of his teenage life is held within the music.

An unwelcome barging holiday with his parents in 1983 led to him meeting Juliet. They fell in love. Hopelessly so.

Nothing Ant has experienced in the years since has come close, despite him being married with a daughter. This is a book about obsession - whether that be with collecting, reminiscing, or hankering for an opportunity lost.

It’s a love story - a love of vinyl and the love of a girl. But this is love pushed to the limits of endurance.

Heartbreaking, funny, wistful and thought-provoking - pop an album on the platter, lower the tonearm, grab a seat, and come on in...

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Buy at Amazon.co.uk

Buy at Amazon.com

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Author Notes

Of all my novels, this is my favourite. There, I admit it!

It may not be the best, but I hold it more dearly than any other so far, as I write these notes in April of 2025. Why? Because it’s the most personal; the most emotional. Probably the most autobiographical.

And because of all of that, it was the most difficult to write. That said, I do believe it’s very well written. In a recent TIWN Magazine interview, Mike Kennedy observed:

“I read ‘The Cut’ and had a book-hangover for weeks afterwards. I couldn’t imagine ever reading a better book.”

As I wrote and edited the text, I read the story in its entirety at least twenty times. Maybe thirty. I cried every single time. I think that’s extraordinary. In my other books, there are invariably those moments that ‘get to’ the reader, but the impact becomes somewhat reduced through exposure. Not so with ‘The Cut’. It is heart-breaking, and needs to be.

It’s a simple premise. A lad, Ant, meets a girl, Juliet, on holiday in 1983. They fall in love. Obsessively. Completely. But events transpire to keep them apart.

Some of the subject matter was incredibly difficult to have to address. I shall say no more than that. It is about obsession, this one, more than any other. And regret. Never being able to fully let go and move on. Constantly seeking out things to conjure Juliet up, lest he might forget.

In Ant’s case, it’s the song ‘I Go To Sleep’ that brings her most vividly to mind. Written and first demoed by Ray Davies of The Kinks, and covered by many, including The Pretenders, quite pertinently. But also The Applejacks, The Fingers, The Truth, Adrain Pride, Marion, Peggy Lee, Cher, etc.

Someone suggested to me that we each have ‘a Juliet’ in our past. He may be right. The book spawned a record - a 10” vinyl EP, containing five wonderful and diverse covers of ‘I Go To Sleep’ by The Lounge Bar Orchestra, Sarah Birch, The Blue Giant Zeta Puppies, Schizo Fun Addict, and The Lost Stoned Pandas. It sold out on pre-order.

I must thank my friend, Kevin Bolton, for proposing that particular song. It was perfect. I shall always be in his debt. And my eternal gratitude to Big Dave for handling the logistics! The entire experience around the book and record was magical. Everything fell into place, it seemed. There were so many strange little coincidences, it felt almost predestined.

All of which served to make the whole experience even better, but the book is at the heart of everything! Characters make books. No question. I can reel them off in this one - Yellow Hat, old George in the pub, Ant’s daughter Grace, Sharelle, Monica at the B&B…

But mostly Juliet and Ant. It’s their story, after all.

Oh, and mine to some degree. And most probably yours, too.

Reviews

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Deep cuts - music and the persistence of memory....

"...Another kaleidoscopic emotional travelogue from the heart and mind of Andy Bracken. This may well be his best book yet, and since I would need a thesaurus in order to avoid repeating what’s already been said by myself and others when reviewing his work, I’ll just keep this short.

Ant has been comfortable in his discomfort for a long time – a dying marriage and a colorless existence, his only real comfort comes from his record collection and the memories evoked by the music. Through Ant’s ears and the lens of memory, we learn of his first love, Juliet, who captured Ant’s heart and held it even to the present day. Their time together, the joy they shared, the often heartbreaking circumstances that eventually kept them apart, and Ant’s inner refusal to just let it go, make for a stunningly poignant book.

For record collectors and dysfunctional romantics like myself, this book checks all the boxes. And even though The Cut is his longest work to date, I read this in one sitting because I could not bring myself to put it down. Like all of his books, it cuts close to the bone – sometimes too close – as if he’s been rifling through my mental rolodex and pulling random cards I’d long forgotten.

You should buy this book. You should buy ALL of his books – you’ll love them."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ An acutely observed and well told tale

"Andy Bracken writes with evocative ease to conjure the moments and minutiae of everyday life that make his characters tick. Acutely observed, with sensitivity and wit, his cast is relatable in a powerful way. Crate digging and vinyl collecting, the love of music and what it means to the protagonists, forms the core of this lovely book. Touching, moving and funny."

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