Twenty-One Locks

Jeannie is twenty years old and she's Lancashire's worst perfume girl. She works in her small town's department store, where all the other girls have perfect make-up (if a little too orange, and a mite too thick) and hair in buoyant ponytails. Jeannie, with wet hair and pale skin, doesn't fit the bill. And she doesn't really care - she arrived as a temp two years ago and has never got round to leaving.

Being bored by work gives her plenty of time to think about her impending nuptials to Jimmy, her teenage sweetheart who's now a mechanic. He's a local lad and like everyone in the town, he lives for Saturday nights: beer, brawls and bare flesh. Jeannie is happier at home on the sofa, or better still, day-dreaming about leaving the town behind.

Just as her feet are at their most cold, she stumbles upon Danny at the train station. He's a well-read, well-travelled, sophisticated ladies' man and represents everything her life is not. Or at least that's how it seems. And before long, it all becomes complicated.

Joint winner of Betty Trask Award 2011

“'I love Laura Barton' Nick Hornby.”

'A charming and irresistible story' Psychologies. Psychologies
'Barton keeps the reader guessing until the end of this unexpectedly poignant book' Guardian. Guardian
'Excellent ... wonderful writing' Independent. Independent
'A sweet, bitter, wonderfully told tale' Mirror. Mirror
Nick Hornby
'Absolutely stunning' The Times. The Times

Laura Barton is a writer and broadcaster. A feature writer and music columnist for the Guardian for more than decade, she now writes for a variety of publications including the Guardian, the Observer, the New York Times, 1843 magazine, the Telegraph and the Financial Times. She is also a contributing editor at Q magazine. In 2010 she published a novel, Twenty-One Locks, which received a Betty Trask Award. She is a regular contributor to Radio 4 and Radio 3, for whom she has written and presented documentaries on subjects as diverse as the musicians Abner Jay and Karen Dalton, the allure of the tomboy, the role of silence in Shakespeare, and a three-part examination of confidence. Her series on music and landscape, Laura Barton's Notes From a Musical Island, has now run for three seasons on Radio 4. She speaks regularly at festivals and universities, and since 2018 she has curated the literary stage at Green Man festival. She also moonlights in A&R for a music publishing company, and has signed some of contemporary music's most sought-after acts.

Jeannie's getting married. She's made her choice. Or has she? At twenty, Jeannie is Lancashire's worst perfume girl. She doesn't look the part, and she doesn't really care. It pays the bills. Being bored at work gives her time to think about her impending marriage to Jimmy, her teenage sweetheart. Like everyone in the town, he lives for Saturday nights: beer, brawls and bare flesh. Jeannie is happier at home on the sofa, or better still, day-dreaming about leaving the town behind. But then she stumbles upon Danny at the station. He's well-read, well-travelled and sophisticated, and he represents everything her life is not. Or at least that's how it seems. As the big day arrives, which life will she choose?

Jeannie is twenty years old and she's Lancashire's worst perfume girl. She works in her small town's department store, where all the other girls have perfect make-up (if a little too orange, and a mite too thick) and hair in buoyant ponytails. Jeannie, with wet hair and pale skin, doesn't fit the bill. And she doesn't really care - she arrived as a temp two years ago and has never got round to leaving. Being bored by work gives her plenty of time to think about her impending nuptials to Jimmy, her teenage sweetheart who's now a mechanic. He's a local lad and like everyone in the town, he lives for Saturday nights: beer, brawls and bare flesh. Jeannie is happier at home on the sofa, or better still, day-dreaming about leaving the town behind. Just as her feet are at their most cold, she stumbles upon Danny at the train station. He's a well-read, well-travelled, sophisticated ladies' man and represents everything her life is not. Or at least that's how it seems. And before long, it all becomes complicated.

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