Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-cream Float Before He Stole My Ma (Paperback)

more than just one of the best debuts of the year; one of the best books of the year. It should do for Aberdeen what Trainspotting did for Edinburgh -- Louise Welsh * Herald *
'Trainspotting on a sugar rush' has been my pat description when recommending this spirited debut novel... a remarkable story of love and loyalty, of fierce passion and scabrous wit, full of characters whose broad vernacular is direct and expressive. This is about a culture with just as much right to be called British as that of middle-class suburbia -- Jonathan Ruppin * Foyles Best Fiction of 2012 *
Despite the grinding poverty, drug addiction, alcoholism and violence, this isn't a relentlessly dark book. It's an honest one: honest about the things that go wrong and about the lives that people who don't often get to be the stars in fiction really do lead... [Hudson] gives us, without a shred of hipster cynicism, the hope and tough warmth for which she has such a sharp eye -- Jenn Ashworth * Guardian *
This is the poverty trap writ large, the authentic working-class experience in all the mess and glory of the giro queue, drug and booze dependency, and gallows humour... Kerry Hudson's early life was like this. What a brilliant thing to turn the chaos and trauma of a hectic childhood into a debut novel as colourful, funny, joyful and compelling as this -- Nicola Barr * Observer *
Kerry Hudson's fine, eloquent debut novel traces the peripatetic childhood of Janie Ryan...her tale is full of warmth and bittersweet humour -- David Evans * Financial Times *