Ok, so I simply don't understand some people. Now I'm adding 'people who have given kestrel for a knave fewer than four star reviews' to the list of people I don't understand. They seem to be missing the point. So the book, I would not advise anyone looking for a comfortable reading experience to pick this one up, it is uncomfortable from the start. The life it describes is bleak and heartbreakingly deprived. Billy Casper quite literally has nothing, his brother (with whom he has to share a bed) is a violent brutal drunk, his mother has a reputation as the local bike and zero maternal instinct. It appears that Billy's father gave attention and even love but that came to an end when he caught Billy's mother with 'Uncle Mick' and he is now out of the picture. Billy has turned his back on the gang he used to hang out with, so is left with no real friends, he does poorly at school and it seems that all but one of his teachers have given up on him. He seems destined to have to go to work in the local pit, alongside his brute of a brother. The one thing he does have is a way with animals, something he has used to train a hawk. Everyone knows that this one light in his life will be snuffed out, but it is the whole story which is heartwrenching. Using local dialect throughout brings the characters to life, while the lyrical descriptions of the countryside and of the falconry contrast with the brutal surroundings of the town and estate. This is stark social realism. The scene in the showers following a lost football match are among the most disturbing that I have ever read, and the indifference shown by Billy's mother over the fate of his beloved Kes encapsulates the indifference Billy meets everywhere. For me it was Billy's tall story which really brought a lump to my throat. The ending is terribly inconclusive but we can see how things will continue for this child with little or no chance of escape.

At times I simply don't understand some people. Now I'm adding 'people who have given kestrel for a knave fewer than four star reviews' to the list of people I don't understand. They seem to be missing the point. So to the book, I would not advise anyone looking for a comfortable reading experience to pick this one up, it is uncomfortable from the start. The life it describes is bleak and heartbreakingly deprived. Billy Casper quite literally has nothing, his brother (with whom he has to share a bed) is a violent brutal drunk, his mother has a reputation as the local bike and zero maternal instinct. It appears that Billy's father gave attention and even love but that came to an end when he caught Billy's mother with 'Uncle Mick' and he is now out of the picture. Billy has turned his back on the gang he used to hang out with, so is left with no real friends, he does poorly at school and it seems that all but one of his teachers have given up on him. He seems destined to have to go to work in the local pit, alongside his brute of a brother. The one thing he does have is a way with animals, something he has used to train a hawk. Everyone knows that this one light in his life will be snuffed out, but it is the whole story which is heart wrenching. Using local dialect throughout brings the characters to life, while the lyrical descriptions of the countryside and of the falconry contrast with the brutal surroundings of the town and estate. This is stark social realism. The scene in the showers following a lost football match are among the most disturbing that I have ever read, and the indifference shown by Billy's mother over the fate of his beloved Kes encapsulates the indifference Billy meets everywhere. For me it was Billy's tall story which really brought a lump to my throat. The ending is terribly inconclusive but we can see how things will continue for this child with little or no chance of escape.

read this for the first time in my 20s but still really enjoyed 40 years later, would recommend to young and old alike

This is a classic kitchen sink drama that revolves around Billy casper, a scrawny teenager growing up in yorkshire, he is something of a non entity in the eyes of his peers and his life has no particular direction, struggling at school and somewhat outcast and constantly in trouble with his teachers and long suffering mother he is a typical lost boy, then he finds a Kestrel hawk and nurses it back to health and through that keeps it as a pet and finally has something to focus on, the Kestrel occupies his every waking moment as it offers him an escape from his uneventful life, A story of everyday struggles and final acceptance via the most unlikely source, great ! .