The Whale Tattoo

Product Information

This was an incredibly immersive and compelling read, that was at times dizzying, often heartbreaking, and with just enough hopefulness to keep my head above water. These timeline jumps and disjointed narration did require some adjustment, and for me, hovered around the line between reader absorption and confusion, usually ending on the right side. (I should add that this may be in part due to the formatting issues in my review copy, which often made the writing more fractured than intended). Joe left his family for a couple of years. The events that sparked that are revealed slowly throughout the novel. His constant companion is the river... the water whispering truths and lies to him, drawing him closer and giving him a constant sense of doom. It all began with a dead whale on the shore and things have been slipping from Joe's control ever since. Having stormed out two years ago, it won’t be easy, nor will returning to the haunted river beside the house where words ripple beneath the surface washing up all sorts of memories. Joe turns to his sister, Birdee, the only person who has ever listened. But she can't help him, she drowned two years ago. Then there’s Tim Fysh, local fisherman and long-time lover. But reviving their bond is bound to be trouble. Though this is Joe’s story, of the father he loathes, the sister he loves, it is mainly about his life-long gay relationship with a fisherman, Fysh and him coming to terms with the suicide of his mother.

Seldom, outside the realms of gay royalty like Alan Hollinghurst, have I read a novel about gay people so well written. Right from the start there is crudeness and a constant barrage of swearing from the first-person narrator – totally justified in my opinion, and I am someone who doesn’t swear. Joe is crude, with his smoking and drinking and rough way of speaking but is the most rounded and believable character I have read in a long time. An astounding debut by an important new voice in queer literature with a completely unique sense of language. Simply a triumph’ 5 *****’. Love Reading, Thomas Schwentenwien. It took me a while to read The Whale Tattoo by Jon Ransom. This is the kind of book that I like to take my time with, and I did that. The book felt heavily grounded in a particular part of England, and that was another plus for me, but at the same time it called to an almost separate dreamlike existence, with the interplay and balance between the two changing throughout, and giving the ending a kind of satisfaction that I had earlier doubted it could reach. The great strength here is Ransom’s pacing. Joe’s life unfolds in an ever-enlightening roll of revelations. Neatly balancing the forward momentum of the story and the piece-by-piece exploration of a man who barely knows himself, The Whale Tattoo places you inside Joe’s mind and the turmoil therein. It’s a tough act, making us inhabit Joe’s headspace without making him unlikable, despite doing a number of unlikable things. Joe is broken and impulsive but there is a core of nobility in him. The theme of unexpected ‘found family’ and self-acceptance reminded me strongly of Michael Cunningham’s A Home at the End of the World.

Advance Praise

Jon Ransom grew up in Norfolk. His short fiction has been published in SAND Journal, Foglifter Press (Lambda Literary finalist for LGBTQ Anthology), Five:2:One, and others. An extract of The Whale Tattoo was selected for the TLC/A.M. Heath Free Reads anthology and in 2018, Jon was selected as a mentee for the 2018/19 NCW Escalator Talent Development Scheme. The narrator of the story has returned to his hometown to reunite with his lover, Fysh, and his family, torn asunder by dysfunction and tragedy. The story assumes a non linear structure, almost like throwing broken pieces on the ground and arranging them into a collage, an epic of loss and ultimately hope. The exploration of the main character and his relationship with Fysh (his lover) is almost too painful to bear as the novel unfolds. As time goes on and we learn more about them, the characters gain more complexity giving the story a rich texture. This too goes for Fysh's wife Dora, the narrators dad, as well as his late mother and his sister. I can’t recall the last time I read a novel with such a sense of place. Joe talks to the water, and the water answers, but the prose is filled with descriptions of the salt marshes and the dykes, the river and the sea, and the trawlers bringing home the shellfish catch. Everything about the prose is visceral. You breathe the salt air, hear the slap of water against the banks, smell the oil and petrol and the choking diesel fumes. See the litter and the broken-down buildings, the listing boats, the mirror reflections of the sky.

Raw, uncompromising, and authentic, a remarkable debut from an astonishingly gifted writer' Golnoosh NourIt’s been a year since you finished on the Escalator programme – how has the experience shaped your approach to writing and your writing process now you’ve had a little distance from it? Seldom, outside the realms of gay royalty like Alan Hollinghurst, have I read a novel about gay people so well written. I can’t recall the last time I read a novel with such a sense of place. This is a story that lives on long after the last full stop. And deserves to be read’. Charles Coussens. The Whale Tattoo’ is a stunning achievement - one of the most impressive and assured debuts I’ve ever read'. Matt Cain Ransom’s text bleeds between events and memories giving Joe an uneasy, distracted air. His emotions get the best of him and he gets lost in the past when the present gets overwhelming. It’s a gripping read, unpredictable but emotionally coherent. Joe and Dora’s interactions spark with unspoken knowledge and emotions. The prose, like Joe’s mind, slides between events, always inhabiting an insecure, liminal space. It manages to be both blunt and poetic all at once. I can strongly recommend The Whale Tattoo…I cannot recall when a book – especially one from a first-time author – had such an effect on me’ Rob Harkavy, Out News Global

Each year, Escalator provides a cohort of emerging writers from the East of England with bespoke mentoring, skills development masterclasses, industry connections and showcases. This guy is an incredible new talent. A short book that punches well above its weight: explicit, brutal and moving’. Isabel Costello Queer and working-class I hear ‘no’ a lot. Escalator and NCW is all about saying ‘yes’, to diversity, inclusivity, to championing every kind of writer at all stages of their career. The greatest thing I walked away from Escalator with was the belief that what I have to say has value. It would be a tremendous loss to limit access to the arts for under-represented voices who ache to be heard. A powerful new voice of gay working-class life…This eloquent heart-felt debut pulls the reader right besde him, and announces Ransom as a writer of real talent.’ Guardian

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The Whale Tattoo’ is a stunning achievement - one of the most impressive and assured debuts I’ve ever read’ Matt Cain An astonishing book. Jon Ransom’s writing manages to be simultaneiously brutal and violent as well as poetic and moving. The quality of his prose if mesmerising’ Linda Jill, Linda’s Book Bag Thankfully, and unlike so many queer novels, this isn’t a book of “misery porn”. Joe’s life takes horrid turns but the reader never loses sight of the potential for growth, making The Whale Tattoo a surprisingly enjoyable and cathartic read. With assured narrative, a vivid sense of place and atmosphere, and flint-sharp dialogue, Jon Ransom has written a novel that is bleak and brutal, but never sentimental.. utterly authentic and cruelly beautiful’ Matt Bates