Now a major new BBC drama
It's 1979,I'm three years old,and like all breakfast times during my youth it begins with Mum combing my hair,a ritual for which I have to sit down on the second-hand,floral-patterned settee,and lean forward,like I'm presenting myself for execution.
The Boy with the Topknot: A Memoir of Love,Secrets and Liesis a hilarious and heart-rending reinvention of the modern British memoir.
For Sathnam Sanghera,growing up in Wolverhampton in the eighties was a confusing business. On the one hand,these were the heady days of George Michael mix-tapes,Dallas on TV and,if he was lucky,the occasional Bounty Bar. On the other,there was his wardrobe of tartan smocks,his 30p-an-hour job at the local sewing factory and the ongoing challenge of how to tie the perfect top-knot.
And then there was his family,whose strange and often difficult behaviour he took for granted until,at the age of twenty-four,Sathnam made a discovery that changed everything he ever thought he knew about them.
Equipped with breathtaking courage and a glorious sense of humour,he embarks on a journey into their extraordinary past - from his father's harsh life in rural Punjab to the steps of the Wolverhampton Tourist Office - trying to make sense of a life lived among secrets.
Publisher: Penguin Books LtdISBN: 9780141028590Number of pages: 336Weight: 234 gDimensions: 198 x 129 x 20 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
I absolutely loved it. Heartbreaking and wonderful. He writes beautifully - Maggie O'Farrell
"Could not be more enjoyable,engaging or moving" - Observer
"About real secrets,in a real quest for understanding. It's tragic,funny and disturbing. It will challenge you,and may even change you - Carole Angier" - Independent
"Hilarious,engaging,tragicomic" - Meg Rosoff,Guardian
"Gripping and entertaining,horrifying and tender...Exposes all those things we take for granted as we grow up" - Hardeep Singh Kohli,The Times
Fans of Nick Hornby and Jonathan Coe will love this book Psychologies
Gripping,tender...recalls A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Time Out
Told with enormous compassion and dry wit. The climax had me on the edge of my seat Jonathan Coe
Funny,heartfelt Marie Claire
Hugely enjoyable New Statesman
Funny and revealing Sunday Times
Marvellous. A book which manages to be colourful,funny,heart-breaking and shocking...there's a dry wit and unexpectedness about this tale that kept me on my toes throughout Irish Examiner
Intimate and funny Metro
Moving The London Paper
Moving Sunday Times
Harrowing and impossible to put down Evening Standard
The most moving debut we've read in ages Elle
Could not be more enjoyable,engaging or moving Observer
Fans of Nick Hornby and Jonathan Coe will love this book Psychologies
Gripping,tender...recalls A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Time Out
Told with enormous compassion and dry wit. The climax had me on the edge of my seat Jonathan Coe
Funny,heartfelt Marie Claire
Hugely enjoyable New Statesman
Funny and revealing Sunday Times
Marvellous. A book which manages to be colourful,funny,heart-breaking and shocking...there's a dry wit and unexpectedness about this tale that kept me on my toes throughout Irish Examiner
Intimate and funny Metro
Moving The London Paper
Moving Sunday Times
Harrowing and impossible to put down Evening Standard
The most moving debut we've read in ages Elle
'Gripping and entertaining,horrifying and tender...Exposes all those things we take for granted as we grow up - Hardeep Singh Kohli The Times
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