Description
Over the past thirty years, it is estimated that tens of thousands of English girls, some as young as six, have been “groomed” by gangs of primarily Pakistani men in England. Groomed… as in raped, beaten, drugged, sold into prostitution, forced into illegal marriages, and, in some cases, killed.
In Bothelford’s Gone, Edward Mclaren offers one of the first fictional treatments of the grooming gang scandal, telling the story of Jack and Agatha, two young English people caught between the violence of the gangs and the indifference of the authorities. At once unflinching coming-of-age story and searing indictment of multicultural Britain, Bothelford’s Gone will stand as literary testament to one of the most egregious instances of mass rape in modern memory outside of wartime.
Edward McLaren is an academic, journalist, and novelist living in Oxford. He draws upon a wide range of influences, blending myth, politics, and romanticism. “Although the story is ‘based on documented past events’ and interspersed with hair-raising evidence from the real-life victims of the gangs, the book is essentially a dystopian novel, a nightmare vision set in the apocalyptic present – and therein lies its power.” – James Monteith, The Salisbury Review
“In his debut novel, Bothelford’s Gone, Edward McLaren finally gives voice to the nightmare of migrant invasion, leftist indoctrination, and the lost innocence of English youth.” – Auguste Meyrat, The Federalist
![Painting of two women and a man sitting by a country road with leafless trees and a cloudy sky.](https://verdur.in/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Hard-Times-Hubert-von-Herkomer-1849–1914-768x595.jpg")
