My Name Is Leon (now A Major Bbc Two Film)

By (author) Waal, Kit de
Description

A TIMES and INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE IRISH NOVEL PRIZE

Soon to be a major BBC film starring Sir Lenny Henry, Malachi Kirby, Monica Dolan, Olivia Williams and Christopher Eccleston.

It''s 1981, a year of riots and royal weddings. The Dukes of Hazzard is on TV. Curly Wurlys are in the shops. And trying to find a place in it all is nine-year-old Leon. He and his little brother Jake have gone to live with Maureen. They''ve lost one home, but have they found another?

Maureen feeds and looks after them. She has wild red hair and mutters swearwords under her breath when she thinks they can''t hear. She claims everything will be okay. But will they ever see their mother again? Who are the couple who secretly visit Jake? Between the street violence and the street parties, Leon must find a way to reunite his family . . .

''Startlingly funny. Balances the gritty with the feel good'' Observer

''Vivid and endearing - a very powerful book'' Emma Healey, bestselling author of Elizabeth is Missing

''Authentic and beautiful, urgent and honest, this novel makes room in your heart'' Chris Cleave, bestselling author of The Other Hand

SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD & THE DESMOND ELLIOT PRIZE

Review quote
Tender and heart-breaking
Review quote
A beautiful story told with compassion, urgency and wit
Review quote
Vivid and endearing - a very powerful book
Review quote
Leon is pure goodwill in a wicked world, and he won''t leave you when you put this unique book down. Authentic and beautiful, urgent and honest, this novel does what only the best do: it quietly makes room in your heart. At the end of the story I couldn''t bear to close the book on Leon. I felt I was abandoning him. I wanted to talk about it straight away with someone else who''d read it, and I know a great many readers will feel the same.
Review quote
Beautiful and heartbreaking - I cried buckets of tears for Leon and his family
Review quote
The unforgettable story of a boy struggling to belong, and the author captures both his mindset and the period impeccably. Heartbreaking and uplifting - just read it
Review quote
Everything in My Name Is Leon rings true. It''s an everyday story and this actually makes it more powerful: these are the lows and joys of real life. Someone will be living them as you read
Review quote
Beguiling, tender, funny, compassionate ... entirely heartbreaking without being bleak
Biographical note
Kit de Waal, born to an Irish mother and Caribbean father, was brought up among the Irish community of Birmingham in the 60''s and 70''s. Her debut novel My Name Is Leon was an international bestseller, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award, longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and won the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award for 2017. Her second novel, The Trick to Time, was longlisted for the Women''s Prize and her young adult novel Becoming Dinah is shortlisted for the Carnegie CLIP Award 2020. She also crowdfunded and edited an anthology of working class memoir, Common People, which was published in 2018. Kit was named the FutureBook Person of the Year in 2019.
Promotional headline
A brother chosen. A brother left behind. And a family where you''d least expect to find one.