Author Description

A raw and often funny 12-month snapshot of 7-year-old Tommy's brutal young life. Moving us through his daily struggle with poverty and neglect in 1960s Manchester like it's the most natural thing in the world, Tommy lives at the heart of a large Irish family in derelict Hulme, ruled by an abusive and alcoholic father and a drunk, negligent mother. Alongside his siblings he begs for a few pennies to bring home to keep their parents from belting them, while hunting for something to eat and a little adventure along the way. Set during this single year--before his family implodes and his world changes forever--young Tommy almost falls foul of the school welfare officers, the nuns, the police--and Myra Hindley and Ian Brady