Shortlisted for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 2008.
Prepare to enter a world hopefully most of us will never know. The story of a 12 year old girl, Baby, who has been brought up in the red light district of Montreal by her heroin addicted father. Matters get worse when he is taken in to hospital and later when he betrays his daughter further. Baby is a strong, intelligent character despite the hurdles she has faced in her young life and this novel is a fascinating and observant piece of writing.
'Like Angela Carter, she is relentlessly inventive' Sunday Times 'Full of pathos, spirit and iridescent innocence' Independent on Sunday
The first novel by the author of The Lonely Hearts Hotel
12-year-old Baby is used to turmoil in her life. Her mother is long dead, her father is a junkie and they shuttle between rotting apartments and decrepit downtown hotels.
As her father's addiction and paranoia grow worse, she begins a journey that will lead her through chaos and hardship; but Baby's remarkable strength of spirit enables her to survive. Smart, funny and determined to lift herself off the city's dirty streets, she knows that the only person she can truly rely upon is herself.
Heather O’Neill is a contributor to this American Life and her work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine. Her childhood was divided between Virginia with her mother, and Montreal with her father. She now lives in Montreal with her partner and her daughter.
