Fighting Pretty

Women''s boxing may not yet be an Olympic sport, after plans to preview it in Beijing were dropped. But there''s plenty of fight left in the sport yet, not least in the Welsh valleys.

Written in honest, original prose, sharp with imagery and a love of place, debut author Louise Walsh tells a warm, no-holds-barred story of a Cardiff girl who refuses to throw in the towel.

Lizzie is a young woman who''s taken a few knocks in life. But she''s still standing and looking to her love of boxing to see her through. She''s not quite sure where it comes from, this passion for the ring, it could be her granddad and the faded photo she has of him boxing for Wales in a red vest and home-made shorts…

Reeling from divorce, jobless and living back home with her embittered father, Lizzie throws everything into boxing training, treating herself to lessons from an ex-pro. Then she meets up with a bunch of old-time trainers at a Valleys gym, who take the lonely city girl under their wing. Despite battles with her weight and other demons, Lizzie seems to be ahead on points. But will she ever get to wear that longed-for red vest?

Walsh peers into the macho world of boxing with tenderness and telling humour, and discovers that maybe the barriers that separate men and women aren''t so high after all.

Louise Walsh lives in Cardiff where she also works as a legal secretary. She has always loved writing and boxing and is a member of Cardiff Writers'' Circle. Fighting Pretty is her first novel.