In the year 1979, the looming spectres of Margaret Thatcher’s political rise and the emergence of the notorious Yorkshire Ripper put an unnerving strain on the northern parts the United Kingdom. Amidst this turbulent atmosphere, 12-year-old tomboy Miv experiences additional personal tremors. Her mother has grown taciturn, her persnickety aunt has taken residence to help cope with the family’s struggles, and Miv’s dad seeks refuge in the local pub. The idea of relocating the family to the southern part of England is also being considered, a proposition Miv views as dreadfully worse than mortality.
In a desperate endeavour to restore peace to her beloved Yorkshire, or ‘God’s Own Country’ as she calls it, she hatches a plan as audacious as it is absurd; to unearth the identity of the Ripper herself. In pursuit of this goal, Miv enlists the aid of her closest companion. Rather than making strides toward their investigative goal, they stumble into the throes of growing up, often tripping over into the confounding landscape of adulthood.
Together, they dive into the stark characteristics of their industrial town, trying to unravel the clandestine quirks of characters in their locality like the Elton John fan Mr Bashir, his victimised son, and the boy’s irate tutor. Through their journey, the narrative imparts a comical yet sincere understanding of how everyone around us harbours unknown aspects to their lives. The insightful rendering of this simple truth at times turns out to be delightful, shocking, and genuinely moving.
‘The List of Suspicious Things’, an impressive debut by the brilliant newcomer Godfrey, encapsulates the essence of 1970s Yorkshire through the eyes of Miv who firmly believes in the cultural significance of her local community. She cherishes her thoroughbred Yorkshire lineage, with “the moors and the mills running through our veins”.
Although penned as a tribute to that particular place and era, Godfrey does not overlook the societal seams of class and race disparities, alongside a lingering undercurrent of violence. This grimness is not only tied to the menace of the Ripper, but also echoes in the discriminatory chants of the “short-haired lads” who pound the pavement, seeking an end to immigration, rejection of the common market, and revival of capital punishment to “Make Britain great again”. This microcosm of Yorkshire in the ’70s thus serves as a mirror to contemporary England, interlinking history with the current sociocultural fabric.