I didn't know much about this book when I started reading it but I am so glad that I did! As a therapist I found it very thought provoking. I am very aware of how our memories can be distorted and the way religion can almost hypnotise us. Tracy King grows up to challenge all her previous beliefs and some of her memories. A highly thought provoking and interesting read.

A really interesting memoir about growing up in poverty in the UK and the affects that has on mental health and belief systems. I learned a lot from this book and it really opened my eyes to some of the unexpected challenges that poverty can bring.

My only criticism is that I found the book a bit repetitive towards the end.

Thanks to the publisher for access to this ARC.

A thought provoking and griping biography exploring issues of poverty, living within the benefits system and the challenges this presents, class culture, religion and conspiracy theories, and what truth really means.

Whilst also a sad sorry, it's also inspiriting not only how Tracy managed to turn her life around but also how her Mum and sister also found their own way and success of their lives after tragedy.

An interesting and eye opening exploration of poverty, mental illness, damaging religion, and a hunt for justice. Throughout the author is searingly honest not only about her life but also about her inability to remember everything well and how that affected her viewpoints and search for justice regarding her father's death.

What a powerful book. It will bruise your heart and sadden you. It's a book of it's time and hopefully circumstances will not be repeated in the 21st century.
Prejudice for where people live and personal circumstances are still prevalent today but dealing with mental illness and children have moved forward.
Credit to Tracy, Emily and mum Jackie for all the trauma they have overcome and triumphed.
All the issues are serious and profound with major impact.
It's trite and patronising to say the book is inspiring as it does not give credit to all the people in the book and their roles.
All I want to say is thank you for sharing your life with us readers

An extremely powerful and inspiring memoir. Tracy King allows us to journey through her very challenging upbringing where she deals with her father's traumatic death at the age of 12, her mother's agoraphobia, her sister being removed from the family due to being a 'school refuser', poverty, various degrees of religious abuse and numerous failures of statutory services.
In spite of all her early challenges Tracy's love of books facilitates her eventual freedom from her past as she learns a different way to think and view the world and its events.
Beautifully written and very poignant.
I am grateful to the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book and am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

A really singular book, written with pin-sharp focus, that outlines the circumstances of a working-class Eighties childhood as well as a young girl's journey towards wisdom, context, perspective and self-knowledge.

Tracy King was only a little girl when her beloved father Mike was killed during an altercation on their estate. The most gripping part of the book, about two-thirds through, concerns her informal investigation into what happened, having been given some contradictory information by the police in 1989.

The book is also a timely look at school refusal/school phobia, class and identity. Tracy's journey towards a successful career in science communication, tech and marketing is fascinating, but possibly the real heroine of the book is Tracy's gentle, eccentric mother Jackie, at odds with the world, who manages to beat her agoraphobia and demons through exposure therapy, and surmount being widowed before forty to go on and have a great life and career.

While the story starts with the family's conversion to evangelical Billy Graham-style Christianity, this is no 'Educated,' - the Kings seem to drift naturally away from the church and towards their own ideas of truth - but all of it is fascinating and well worth a read.

Surviving the system, when the system is broken and sets out to make matters worse every step of the way

Very excited to read, review, and acquire this title. I find Tracy’s story to be incredibly interesting and moving to see her learn and navigate for herself is going to be quite the tale. I will be sharing more thoughts and a full review soon.