Description

‘Could not be more enjoyable, engaging or moving’ Observer

“It’s 1979, I’m three years old, and like all breakfast times during my youth it begins with Mum combing my hair, a ritual for which I have to sit down on the second-hand, floral-patterned settee, and lean forward, like I’m presenting myself for execution.”

For Sathnam Sanghera, growing up in Wolverhampton in the eighties was a confusing business. On the one hand, these were the heady days of George Michael mix-tapes, Dallas on TV and, if he was lucky, the occasional Bounty Bar. On the other, there was his wardrobe of tartan smocks, his 30p-an-hour job at the local sewing factory and the ongoing challenge of how to tie the perfect top-knot.

And then there was his family, whose strange and often difficult behaviour he took for granted until, at the age of twenty-four, Sathnam made a discovery that changed everything he ever thought he knew about them. Equipped with breathtaking courage and a glorious sense of humour, he embarks on a journey into their extraordinary past – from his father’s harsh life in rural Punjab to the steps of the Wolverhampton Tourist Office – trying to make sense of a life lived among secrets.

‘I absolutely loved it. Heartbreaking and wonderful. He writes beautifully’ Maggie O’Farrell

‘Tragic, funny and disturbing. It will challenge you, and may even change you’ Carole Angier, Independent

Published in hardback as If You Don’t Know Me by Now

Publisher Review

'Gripping and entertaining, horrifying and tender ... Exposes all those things we take for granted as we grow up -- Hardeep Singh Kohli * The Times * The most moving debut we've read in ages * Elle * Harrowing and impossible to put down * Evening Standard * Moving * Sunday Times * Moving * The London Paper * Intimate and funny * Metro * Marvellous. A book which manages to be colourful, funny, heart-breaking and shocking ... there's a dry wit and unexpectedness about this tale that kept me on my toes throughout * Irish Examiner * Funny and revealing * Sunday Times * Hugely enjoyable * New Statesman * Funny, heartfelt * Marie Claire * Told with enormous compassion and dry wit. The climax had me on the edge of my seat * Jonathan Coe * Gripping, tender ... recalls A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius * Time Out * Fans of Nick Hornby and Jonathan Coe will love this book * Psychologies * Could not be more enjoyable, engaging or moving * Observer * The most moving debut we've read in ages * Elle * Harrowing and impossible to put down * Evening Standard * Moving * Sunday Times * Moving * The London Paper * Intimate and funny * Metro * Marvellous. A book which manages to be colourful, funny, heart-breaking and shocking ... there's a dry wit and unexpectedness about this tale that kept me on my toes throughout * Irish Examiner * Funny and revealing * Sunday Times * Hugely enjoyable * New Statesman * Funny, heartfelt * Marie Claire * Told with enormous compassion and dry wit. The climax had me on the edge of my seat * Jonathan Coe * Gripping, tender ... recalls A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius * Time Out * Fans of Nick Hornby and Jonathan Coe will love this book * Psychologies * 'Gripping and entertaining, horrifying and tender ... Exposes all those things we take for granted as we grow up -- Hardeep Singh Kohli * The Times * Hilarious, engaging, tragicomic -- Meg Rosoff * Guardian * About real secrets, in a real quest for understanding. It's tragic, funny and disturbing. It will challenge you, and may even change you -- Carole Angier * Independent * Could not be more enjoyable, engaging or moving * Observer * I absolutely loved it. Heartbreaking and wonderful. He writes beautifully -- Maggie O'Farrell