Author(s): Jarred McGinnis

Novel

Question: What's worse than being in a wheelchair?Answer: Being a fuck-up in a wheelchair.After a car accident Jarred discovers he'll never walk again. Confined to a 'giant roller-skate', he finds himself with neither money nor job. Worse still, he's forced to live back home with the father he hasn't spoken to in ten years.Add in a shoplifting habit, an addiction to painkillers and the fact that total strangers now treat him like he's an idiot, it's a recipe for self-destruction. How can he stop himself careering out of control?As he tries to piece his life together again, he looks back over his past - the tragedy that blasted his family apart, why he ran away, the damage he's caused himself and others - and starts to wonder whether, maybe, things don't always have to stay broken after all.The Coward is about hurt and forgiveness. It's about how the world treats disabled people. And it's about how we write and rewrite the stories we tell ourselves about our lives - and try to find a happy ending.

Review: Sings from its first lines . . . unbearably poignant . . . a truly uplifting emotional journey; a tender, wise, brutally funny novel * * Guardian * *
Written with insight and savage wit . . . it is uplifting because McGinnis is a realist who never tries to sweeten the bitter experience of learning to navigate life in a wheelchair. His characters are vivid and impossible to forget, and he has an underlying optimism about the various ways in which muddled lives shake down and settle into something better * * The Times * *
This beautiful book is a testament to the way people can, in spite of everything, reforge shattered emotional bonds and repair seemingly doomed relationships. You won't find a more uplifting read in these dark times -- IRVINE WELSH
Laceratingly funny, beautiful and true, true, true - right into its very human and very twisted heart. Read this book -- A.L. KENNEDY
Visceral yet immensely witty . . . The sections describing the immediate aftermath of the crash are incredibly powerful * * Herald * *
Both absolutely devastating and ridiculously funny, sometimes within the span of a single paragraph. You'll want to murder McGinnis' mouthy anti-hero and also take him out for several pints. A big-hearted, quick-witted sucker punch of a first novel; readers who like their brutal honesty with a side of hope are really going to love The Coward -- JAN CARSON
Riotously funny . . . the book is also a testament to our ability to forgive * * Big Issue * *
Efficient, bracing and bleakly comic * * New Statesman * *
A raw and unflinching look at a broken father-son relationship. At times viscerally honest but always gripping as the difficult journey to redemption and hope takes place against a backdrop of addiction, recrimination and an emotionally troubled history. Jarred McGinnis finds truth and humour in the brutal honesty that makes for a compelling read -- MARK STRONG
Brutal, tender, moving and funny. Life as a novel -- C.D. ROSE

Prizes: Long-listed for The Barbellion Prize 2021 (UK).

Author Biography: Jarred McGinnis is the co-founder of The Special Relationship, which was chosen for the British Council's International Literature Showcase. His short fiction has been commissioned for BBC Radio 4 and appeared in literary journals in the UK, Canada, USA and Ireland. He is an Associate Writer for Spread the Word, a fellow of the London Library's Emerging Writer Programme and a Writer-in-Residence for First Story. He also has a PhD in Artificial Intelligence, but mostly he inspires the able-bodied by using public transport and taking his daughters to the playground.