The BBC are reporting that the author of this well-known book has died. A Kestrel for a Knave - about a young working-class boy named Billy who finds and trains a kestrel, was published in 1968 and filmed the following year.

This book had a big impact on me as a teenager. What I admired the most was how the gritty life of 1960s Britain was portrayed. I also remember the really bleak ending. The author resisted the urge to give the story some kind of emotional compensation. As in life, sometimes there are no silver-linings.