Billy is born in Blackburn, Lancashire, into a family of very poor cotton workers. Over the next 16 years he knows abject poverty and cruelty, as well as love and great friendship. The book chronicles the dreadful times - death from starvation, suicide, the pointless Jarrow march to London - and the degradation and hopelessness of thousands of people. A well-written and moving portrait of a time which is - thankfully - long gone.
(Julie Higgins - bwl 20 September 2003 ) |
