The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence

Part of Plymouth International Book Festival

Gavin Extence joins us to talk about his acclaimed debut novel, The Universe Versus Alex Woods.

Alex hasn’t had the most conventional start in life. He knows that growing up with a clairvoyant mother won’t endear him to the local bullies. And he knows that even the most improbable events can happen – he’s got the scars to prove it. What he doesn’t know yet is that when he meets ill-tempered, reclusive widower Mr Peterson, he’ll make an unlikely friend. Someone who tells him that you only get one shot at life. That you have to make the best possible choices.

So when, aged seventeen, Alex is stopped at Dover customs with 113 grams of marijuana, an urn full of ashes on the passenger seat, and an entire nation in uproar, he’s fairly sure he’s done the right thing…

‘This funny, touching first novel . . . Extence unfolds his offbeat tale with skill but his real triumph lies in providing such a memorable voice’ - Sunday Times