A novel from 'the Chekhov of suburbia', Booker-Prize winning author Stanley Middleton. Rejacked and reissued in Windmill. From Booker-Prize winning novelist Stanley Middleton. Thomas Harris is on the cusp of success as a classical composer with a growing reputation. When his father, a coal miner, dies Thomas decides to write a requiem for him which is also a thinly veiled attack on the powerful elite. In spite of opposition he finally succeeds in getting his work performed but how will the critics react?