‘ONE OF THE MOST MOVING ACCOUNTS OF NON-FICTION EVER WRITTEN’ GUARDIAN
‘Remarkable and moving tale’ TLS
‘If you like Shuggie Bain, then Slum Boy is for you’ LEMN SISSAY
‘Heart-breaking and inspiring’ ALAN CUMMING
John MacDonald is a four-year-old boy growing up in the slums of Glasgow. His mother is an addict, who leaves him starving in their flat for days at a time. When a neighbour files a report, John is wrenched away from her and placed into the care system. There, he has experiences he’s too young to understand which his eventual adoptive parents silence as he grows into a gay man within the Romani community.
But John dreams of being reunited with his mother and will stop at nothing to find her.
Slum Boy is about how, against all odds, John found a way to his mother and true identity, Juano Diaz.
‘I hope it finds a million readers’ ANDREW O’HAGAN
‘Compulsively readable’ PATRICK GALE
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Reviews
What a brave and powerful story. If you like Shuggie Bain and Damian Barr then Slum Boy is for you
Fans of Douglas Stuart and Damian Barr will pounce on this startling debut. Compulsively readable, it's Dickensian in its rich cast of Glaswegian characters
Powerful and beautifully written... This elegant and heartbreaking memoir immediately brings to mind Shuggie Bain
A powerful and at times harrowing memoir. Slum Boy is a remarkable and moving tale of survival
A heart-breaking, inspiring read
An extraordinary survival story
A reminder that beautiful things grow and flourish
The writing is beautiful
A heart-breaking, inspiring read
An extraordinary survival story
A reminder that beautiful things grow and flourish
A heart-rending story that has you constantly holding back tears
I laughed and cried. It's a masterpiece