Michael is 19 and shares a flat above a Chinese takeaway in London with Margaret, his grandmother. When she dies, his already fragile world falls apart. After a desperate plunge into the Thames, he embarks upon a journey that leads from London to Dublin. Accompanied by memories of his grandmother's words and a distant echo of his mother and The Clash, Michael passes through psychiatric care in London and then out to Ireland where he hopes to make peace with himself and the world. Difficult subject matter is punctuated with humour, and throughout the novel-despite his isolation-Michael's optimism is never far below the surface.

Author Biography

Mark Tuohy has been involved with community and social work in several London Boroughs, working in particular with teenagers, people with mental health problems and the homeless. After winning the Bush Theatre's Allied Domecq Award in 1998, Mark was invited to join the BBC New Writers' Initiative where he wrote and directed a TV short and was commissioned to write Supermarket Kisses for radio. He has since written drama for the BBC World Service and for Radio 4, and is currently working on his second novel.