Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

In 1985 Jeanette Winterson's first novel, "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit", was published.

It was Jeanette's version of the story of a terraced house in Accrington, an adopted child, and the thwarted giantess Mrs Winterson.

It was a cover story, a painful past written over and repainted.

It was a story of survival.

This book is that story's the silent twin. It is full of hurt and humour and a fierce love of life. It is about the pursuit of happiness, about lessons in love, the search for a mother and a journey into madness and out again.

It is generous, honest and true.