Underdogs

By: Louise Powell

'Beautiful, heartbreaking, uplifting, funny . . . At times my own heart was racing as if with the dogs . . . a story of love, of loss, of hope; of life and how to live it even when the chips are down' JENNY KNIGHT, author of Wild Moon Rising

'Told with a full-blooded voice that is as quick and alive as the hounds that fill its pages, Underdogs captures a forgotten way of life in a forgotten part of England with rare honesty and wit ' SCOTT PRESTON, author of The Borrowed Hills

'These hands,' he said, and spread the paira them out wide so we could see the callouses and the little lines of coal dust underneath his skin; 'these hands were made to pick out summat precious from somewhere that doesn't wanna give it up.'

County Durham, 1998. The pits have closed and jobs are hard to come by, but charismatic ex-miner Bertie has a plan. He runs an underground gambling ring at the local dog track which offers down-on-their-luck blokes a way to turn their life around.

Reg's ten-year-old son George knows his dad hasn't been the same since Mam died, and the letters with scary red type that keep coming through the door can't be good news. So when Bertie offers Reg and George the chance to race Goldie, a beautiful fawn greyhound, they jump at the opportunity.

To succeed they'll need to learn how to navigate the larger-than-life world of the flapping track, all while dark secrets from Bertie's past threaten to unravel the operation. Do Reg and George have what it takes to pull off the gamble of a lifetime?©2026 Louise Powell (P)2026 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critic reviews

Beautiful, heartbreaking, uplifting, funny . . . At times my own heart was racing as if with the dogs . . . a story of love, of loss, of hope; of life and how to live it even when the chips are down

Told with a full-blooded voice that is as quick and alive as the hounds that fill its pages, Underdogs captures a forgotten way of life in a forgotten part of England with rare honesty and wit

A fast‑paced, fun and tender story of family, connection and community - all carried by a brilliantly distinctive voice

An original, authentic and distinctly northern tale delivered with a strong sense of compassion for its characters and their community. Powell works consistently within the lingual constraints of her chosen voice and its dialect, the repetitions and rhythms, pushing at its limits to produce a kind of poetry unique to itself

Louise Powell may not be the first writer to poke a stick into the smouldering remains of the Durham coalfield, but she leads us into a world as vivid and authentic as any dreamed up by her hero, Sid Chaplin

The love, loss, and craic of the flapping track brings Underdogs to life, delicately balancing larger-than-life characters with the struggles they endure . . . a masterful piece of storytelling

Representation of regional voices in novels is always a winner for me . . . a memorable book full of grit and heart. Odds on other readers will love it as much as I did