Porty parody is big hit for first time author Christie

The monied middle class, designer dogs, pretentiously named children, expensive coffee and wild swimming are just a few of the topics tackled in a parody by new author and former Portobello resident Kevan Christie.

The ex-journalist’s first novel, To Be Frank, proved so popular that the town’s Portobello Bookshop sold out of its initial run and a reprint had to be ordered.

Central character Frank Savage is a fifty-something newspaper columnist who pens a controversial piece calling for dogs and babies to be banned from cafés. It was his swansong to journalism but instead of being dismissed from the newspaper, the column catapults him to stardom – and into further trouble.

Savage repeatedly rubs up against former pal and arch-enemy Brewster, an apparently reformed racist, homophobic football hooligan turned drug dealer, and now a respected figure in Portobello, whom he blames for his brother’s death 30 years ago.

This coincides with the arrival of his eldest daughter, Naomi, whom Frank hasn’t seen for years. A genius with numbers, she works for an organised crime syndicate in London, and has been sent north to set up a money laundering operation as a first step for taking over the Edinburgh drugs trade.

Kevan Christie being Frank at Portobello Bookshop

Christie, the son of former Portobello High School teacher and Musselburgh Grammar headteacher Terry, left school at 16 to work in a builder’s merchant. He spent the next two decades doing a variety of jobs in the city’s financial institutions before switching to journalism and worked on the Daily Record, The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday.

He said: “This book is essentially a love letter to the seaside town of Portobello where the protagonist Frank resides. I tapped into my own experience of growing up in Porty during the 70s and 80s where my granny ran a guest house, in particular the deep sense of nostalgia I have for the place, glimpsed through rose-tinted spectacles.

“Memories of long hot summers spent at the open-air pool and buying quarters of sweets from Mrs Webber’s at the foot of Bath Street along with trips to the paddling pool, the Daisy Park and countless birthday parties at the trampoline centre provided the inspiration for my debut novel.

“I set out to explore the impact of gentrification on a traditional seaside town and how conflict can arise between locals, resistant to change and the influx of a wealthier middle-class who demand a better class of coffee.

“I wanted to explore the experience of the middle-aged man fighting to stay relevant in an ever-changing world where Millennials are to the fore. I felt the need to shine a light on journalism in the age of digital media where legacy print is becoming redundant. The book is a parody of the media from the viewpoint of an insider – me.”

Now working on his second book, Christie praised the town’s independent book shop: “I believe The Portobello Bookshop has become an essential pillar in the local community and a vital hub for creativity. It meant a lot to have ‘To Be Frank’ stocked there, this was the big one as far as I was concerned.

“They really get that local people are interested in the book and understand the sense of nostalgia for old Porty the book endears, while at the same time tackling some challenging issues including racism and addiction.”

To Be Frank, published by The Book Guild, is available in all good bookshops and on Amazon.