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Mum, Can You Lend Me Twenty Quid?

On sale

7th February 2008

Price: £9.99

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Selected: Paperback / ISBN-13: 9780749951726

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Elizabeth Burton Phillips is a teacher, an ordinary middle-class mother who had always tried to do the best for her children; she never imagined that her identical twin sons, who had been doing so well at school, would become involved in drugs. She was shocked when they were suspended from school for smoking cannabis; but this was just the start of a terrible, unimaginable journey – culminating in the knock on the door in the early hours by the police. They gave her the devastating news that her son Nick had killed himself in despair at his heroin addiction.Since his death, Elizabeth has campaigned tirelessly to make parents aware of the pain and suffering caused to families by drug addiction; and her surviving twin, Simon, now drug-free, has contributed his own thoughts to this inspiring and moving book.

Reviews

Mrs Moneypenny, FT Magazine
It reinforces the message that I have had to learn the hard way, namely that sometimes, in order to help your loved ones, you have to sever your links with them
Judith Woods, The Daily Telegraph
the most frightening, truthful, courageous account of a middle-class family's descent into hell
Belfast Telegraph
A moving, frightening story
Anthony Seldon, Headmaster, Wellington College
I would urge all parents, teachers and pupils to read this heart-rending book
Waterstones Books Quarterly
a book that is moving and ultimately, inspiring