The Sopranos is a novel by the Scottish novelist
Alan Warner, published in 1998.
It describes the antics of a group of catholic schoolgirls from a small Scottish town (modelled on Oban) on their trip to Edinburgh to compete in a choir competition. The ringleaders; Fionnula, Kylah, Manda, Orla and Chell are the sopranos of the title, and are utterly uninterested in winning the competition, but eager to experience the joys of shopping, shagging and drinking in the big city. With the arrival that morning of a submarine at the port, the girls are also keen to get back home in time for slow dances at the local nightclub with a bunch of sailors.
It is a very humourous book, full of richly described incidents the girls get themselves into. Highlights are a meeting with a crowd of video-camera wielding American tourists at a roadside cafe, and the theft of the schoolgirls uniforms. The style is similar to that employed by Irvine Welsh, the book is written in the Scottish dialect (very accurately) and eschews the use of speechmarks, letting the dialogue flow along with the narrative. Additionally various lists, and at one point switching into a film script, are used to provide added detail to the characters. The Edinburgh scenes are also well done, people who know the city should be able to identify the places the girls visit, (and I expect if you know Oban you could do the same).
The book describes the boredom of life in a rural dead end town, conveying that for many of the girls all they have to look forward to is motherhood and/or marriage. This is illustrated by the genuine excitement the girls display when visiting a McDonalds. The constantly evolving relationship between teenage girls rings true in the book. There are some touching lyrical passages, especially when dealing with Orla, who went on a trip to Lourdes as part of her fight against Hodgkin's disease. The book also deals with burgeoning sexuality, with the relationship between Fionnula, and the university-bound, middle class Kay Adams being of most relevance.
The humour is black, as depicts the cynical and seen-it-all-before tones that teenagers strive to impress on one another. The are also one or two quite disturbing incidents that may unnerve some readers, notably passages on why you shouldn't have sex with people in comas, and how not to look after puppies. There are also a few scenes that seemed tagged on and don't gel with the rest of the story. The plot is also very exaggerated and contrived, but it works in the wilder Edinburgh scenes where everything teeters on the brink of collapse. The use of an escaped foul-mouthed parrot from the girls's school also feels like trying too hard for a metaphor.
Still it is a very funny book, and shows Warner off as a very skilled storyteller and writer. It is probably his most accessible book to date, and there rumours of a film production being in the works, which given the source material has huge potential.