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‘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

Reviews

Lemn Sissay, author of My Name Is Why
What a brave and powerful story. If you like Shuggie Bain and Damian Barr then Slum Boy is for you
Patrick Gale, author of Mother's Boy
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
Guardian
Powerful and beautifully written... This elegant and heartbreaking memoir immediately brings to mind Shuggie Bain
Times Literary Supplement
A powerful and at times harrowing memoir. Slum Boy is a remarkable and moving tale of survival
Alan Cumming
A heart-breaking, inspiring read
Sophie Fiennes
An extraordinary survival story
Christie Watson
A reminder that beautiful things grow and flourish
Scooter LaForge
The writing is beautiful
Alan Cumming, author of Not my Father's Son
A heart-breaking, inspiring read
Sophie Fiennes, creator of Grace Jones
An extraordinary survival story
Christie Watson, author of The Language of Kindness
A reminder that beautiful things grow and flourish
Pam Hogg
A heart-rending story that has you constantly holding back tears
Joey Arias
I laughed and cried. It's a masterpiece