The Boy with the Topknot: Sathnam Sanghera

The Boy with the Topknot: Sathnam Sanghera

“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’m nailing my colours firmly to the mast with this one: I love it and it was easily one of my favourites of last year. And it’s not just me- it was described by Meg Rosoff (Guardian) as ‘Hilarious, engaging, tragicomic’ and as “ tragic, funny and disturbing. It will challenge you, and may even change you’  by Carole Angier in the Independent. No pressure then… see what you think.