A Kestrel for a Knave

A Kestrel for a Knave is a novel by Barry Hines, published in 1968. It is set in Barnsley, Yorkshire and tells of Billy Casper, a young working class boy troubled at home and at school, who only finds solace when he finds and trains a kestrel whom he names "Kes".

The book was made into a film "Kes" and is often used in Key Stage 4 assessment in the UK, as part of GCSE English courses. The book is so named because of a poem found in the Boke of St Albans. In mediæval England, the only bird a knave was legally allowed to keep was a kestrel.

Plot

In the opening pages of the book we see Billy and his brother Jud sleeping in the same bed in a deprived household. Billy tries to encourage Jud to get up to go to work, but Jud only responds by punching him. Soon afterwards so does Billy, only to discover that Jud has stolen his bicycle. As a result, Billy is late for his paper round and has to deliver the newspapers on foot.

Billy returns home to find a man whom he does not recognise leaving his house. He asks his Mum, and finds out that this person is Reg, the man she had come home with the night before. It becomes obvious to the reader that Billy's dad is absent. Mum then tells him to go to the shop to get some cigarettes but instead he steals a book from the local bookstore. He returns home to read it. Jud comes back drunk from a night out and Billy leaves the house and goes out and finds a hawk in the woods and takes it home. The flashback ends.

Later on in the day, Billy is at school, where Mr Crossley is taking the register. After the name Fisher, Billy shouts out 'German Bight', a reference to the BBC Shipping Forecast, inadvertently causing the teacher to make a mistake. The class then proceeds to the hall for an assembly run by the strict head teacher, Mr Gryce. During the Lord's Prayer, Billy starts to daydream, and after the prayer has finished, Billy remains standing after the rest of the people in the hall have sat down. Billy is told to report to Gryce's room after assembly. Billy goes to Gryce and gets caned. He then goes to a class with Mr Farthing, who is discussing 'Fact and Fiction'. One of the pupils, Anderson, tells a story about tadpoles. Then Billy is told to tell a story, and tells a story about his kestrel. Mr Farthing takes an interest. The class then has to write a tall story, and Billy writes about a day when his father comes back home and Jud leaves to go to the army. After the lesson Billy gets into a fight with a boy called MacDowall, which is eventually broken up by Mr Farthing.

After break, Billy goes to PE with Mr Sugden. Billy has no PE kit, because his mother refuses to pay for it, so he is forced to wear clothes that do not fit. He goes onto the football pitch, and is told to play in goal. After a very long lesson, which involves Billy performing acrobatics on the goalpost, the class goes back inside and each has a shower. Billy is humiliated by Mr Sudgen who forces him to take a cold shower. After this, Billy goes straight home to feed Kes. He takes her out and flies her, and is approached by Mr Farthing, who is apparently impressed by Billy's skill. Mr Farthing then leaves, and Billy goes out to place Jud's bet. However, he finds out that the horse is not very likely to win, and instead uses Jud's money to buy a portion of chips, and some meat for his kestrel.

Billy returns back to school, and whilst sitting in a maths lesson sees Jud walking towards the school. The lesson finishes, and Billy leaves hurriedly. He tries to hide from Jud before he bumps into Gryce, who reminds him that he is supposed to be in a Youth Employment Meeting. Billy goes along to his Youth Employment Meeting, and the Youth Employment Officer finds it very difficult to recommend anything, as Billy claims that he has no hobbies. After the Youth Employment Meeting, Billy goes straight home and finds that Kes has disappeared. He frantically searches for her, and returns home. Jud is there, and he tells Billy that the horse he was supposed to place a bet on won, and that he has killed Kes. Billy then calls Jud a 'fuckin' bastard' and has a fight with him. His mother criticises Billy's language, and Billy runs away. Another flashback takes place in which Billy visits the cinema with his father. When they return home, Billy's father finds that his wife has been having an affair with Billy's 'Uncle Mick'. Billy's father punches Mick, and leaves the house. After the flashback has ended, Billy returns home, buries the kestrel and goes to bed.

The book is unusual in that much of the plot takes place in flashback sequences, a storytelling device more commonly associated with film. Ironically, the film adaption by Ken Loach dispenses with the flashbacks and portrays the events all in the same timeframe. The book is set over a period of just one day.