Maggie & Me

A unique, tender and witty memoir of surviving the tough streets of small town Scotland during the Margaret Thatcher years
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Shocking and funny in equal measure, and will have you weeping with laughter and sorrowIndependent on Sunday

A work of stealthy geniusMaggie OFarrell

Certain memoirs catch a moment and seem to define it, bottle it ... hugely entertainingSunday Times

Its 12 October 1984. An IRA bomb blows apart the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Miraculously, Margaret Thatcher survives. In small-town Scotland, eight-year-old Damian Barr watches in horror as his mum rips her wedding ring off and packs their bags. He knows he, too, must survive.

Damian, his sister and his Catholic mum move in with her sinister new boyfriend while his Protestant dad shacks up with the glamorous Mary the Canary. Divided by sectarian suspicion, the community is held together by the sprawling Ravenscraig Steelworks. But darkness threatens as Maggie takes hold: she snatches school milk, smashes the unions and makes greed good. Following Maggies advice, Damian works hard and plans his escape. He discovers that stories can save your life and - in spite of violence, strikes, AIDS and Clause 28 - manages to fall in love dancing to Madonna in Glasgows only gay club.

Maggie & Me is a touching and darkly witty memoir about surviving Thatchers Britain; a story of growing up gay in a straight world and coming out the other side in spite of, and maybe because of, the iron lady.

Damian Barrs critically acclaimed debut novel, YOU WILL BE SAFE HERE, also available now.