24 for 3

24 for 3 is a 2007 novella by Jennie Walker (a pen name of English poet Charles Boyle); it won the 2008 McKitterick Prize.[1] (awarded to authors over 40 for their first novel) and was selected by Karl Miller of the Times Literary Supplement as one of his books of the year in 2008.[2]

"The Rules of Play" redirects here. For the book on game design by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, see Rules of Play.

24 for 3
First edition
Author'Jennie Walker'
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
PublisherCB Editions/Bloomsbury (UK)
Soho Press (US)
Publication date
2007 (UK), 2010 (US)
Media typePrint & eBook
Pages128
AwardsMcKitterick Prize
ISBN0-9557285-0-9
823.92
LC ClassPR6052.O9196 A12 2008

Title and setting

The title comes from England's second innings score at the start of the final day of a Test cricket match against India, which forms the backdrop to the story; each of the chapters is set on one day of the five-day match; from Friday through to Tuesday.

Author identity

It was only at the Society of Authors awards ceremony in June 2008 that most people realised that the author was in fact a man: 'Many initially assumed Boyle must be Walker's agent when he walked up to accept the £4,000 McKitterick Prize'.[3]

Plot introduction

A woman whose life is split between her lover (a loss adjuster) and husband worries about the whereabouts of her teenage son and wonders about the rules of cricket. Her husband draws elaborate diagrams of fielding positions, in contrast her lover prefers mystery. As the woman becomes more intrigued by the game she draws parallels between the characters in her life and the strategies of the game...

Publication history

The author, frustrated at his inability to find a publisher, set up his own publishing house CB Editions to get it in to print.[4] After receiving positive reviews the book then gained the backing of Bloomsbury Publishing who published it with a quote on the cover from Mick Jagger saying that he 'loved it'.[5] It was published under the title The Rules of Play in the US by Soho Press in 2010.[6]

  • 2007, UK, CB Editions, ISBN 0-9557285-0-9, Pub date Nov 2007, Paperback
  • 2008, UK, Bloomsbury, ISBN 0-7475-9792-8, Pub date 4 Aug 2008, Hardback
  • 2009, UK, Bloomsbury, ISBN 0-7475-9875-4, Pub date 6 Jul 2009, Paperback
  • 2010, US, Soho Press, ISBN 1-56947-625-X, Pub date Jan 2010, Hardback (as The Rules of Play)
  • 2011, US, Soho Press, ISBN 1-56947-884-8, Pub date 4 Jan 2011, Paperback (as The Rules of Play)
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References
  1. CB editions – publisher of new writing – About & News
  2. www.cbeditions.com Sonofabook: Good things. Monday, 1 December 2008
  3. Sting in the tale for book publisher as Jennie turns out to be Charles – News – London Evening Standard, 20 June 2008
  4. The Fiction Desk blog, Saturday 6 September 2008, by Rob
  5. 24 for 3 by Jennie Walker | Book review | Books | The Guardian, by James Smart, Saturday 1 August 2009
  6. www.fantasticfiction.co.uk Retrieved 4 April 2010.
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