Published in 2015
267 pages
Carol Anne Morley (born 1966) is an English film director, screenwriter and producer. She is best known for her semi-documentary Dreams of a Life, released in 2011, about Joyce Carol Vincent, who died in her North London bedsit in 2003, but was not discovered until 2006.
What is this book about?
When I got out of the car he said, ‘Do you have everything?’ And I just said, ‘Yeah,’ or something equally dull and not really fit for being the last thing you ever say to your father… I stood and waved as he drove away. I watched his car turn right onto Hempshaw Lane. I watched him disappear.
Ever since then I’ve been looking for clues.
1977. Manchester is on the verge of becoming the underground music capital of the world and seven miles away in Stockport, eleven-year-old Ann is on the verge of something equally big: puberty. Then one morning her dad takes her to school, drives away and kills himself.
While her mother tries to makes sense of her grief, Ann seeks out the company of others. From runaway punks to charismatic clairvoyants, the people she meets give her insight into the strange new world around her. Growing up in the long shadow of her father’s death, Ann discovers her own way to live.
From acclaimed film-maker Carol Morley, this is a raw, darkly funny and powerful story of how a life can be brought back from the brink.
