“If it doesn’t hurt like hell, it ain’t worth a jack shit,” are words from the author’s mother that form the epigraph to Darling Days. Hurt fills the pages, for at the book’s core is a painful mother-daughter relationship, yet humour is also distilled from the pain. When the author was six a group of boys refused to let her play so she decided to become a boy. The author unflinchingly negotiates “a vortex of damage”, discovering forgiveness and the redemptive powers of art. Darling Days is published by Virago (£18.99).

Source: The Guardian October 02, 2016 10:00 UTC