Gillian looked into the bowl with an expression approaching horror on her skeletal face. I looked at the soup spoon that sat on the table before her and reached over and took it. I gave her instead the teaspoon that had come with my coffee. She looked up at me and tears welled in her eyes and dribbled silently down her cheeks. There was no pretence to hide behind, no bravado any more. I patted her gently on the hand. Slowly. One spoonful at a time. Little sips.

Wednesday's Child

Shane Dunphy

GILL MACMILLAN

At the end of his bestselling debut, Wednesdays Child, Shane Dunphy was burnt out, and wrote of leaving his job as a child protection worker. But he returned to the profession he loved, and in Last Ditch House he revisits four more cases from his childcare days, using a technique similar to the first book. The narrative is set a year after Wednesdays Child and tells of a summer spent working with four unusual cases for a voluntary child-protection group. Last Ditch House is more complex, richer and a little darker than its predecessor and Shane Dunphy has consciously given more of himself this time, going into his own motivations and feelings in greater detail. The cases recounted here are those of four children from very different aspects of Irish society, each with a unique story to tell. Once again, Shane Dunphy draws on the real-life experience of fifteen years working in child protection, and while these events did not, in reality, happen concurrently, he has woven them together to create a non-fiction book that has the pace, atmosphere and dialogue of a thriller. Yet everything recounted here really happened. These stories - shocking, heart-breaking and inspiring - are all true.

Last Ditch House

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Craig, the little boy who can't speak English, isn't allowed to use his real name and hides food - afraid he'll be hungry again. His parents, the Tomescus, are trying to make a fresh start, but their gangland bosses are about to catch up with the family and Craig will pay a terrible price ... Gregor Blerinca is Mr Tomescu's boss, and a dangerous criminal. Shane knows, when he asks Blerinca for help, that he will owe the gangster a favour. But when Blerinca comes to him for advice about his fifteen-year-old son, Vinnie, Shane gets more than he bargained for ... Edgar is a twelve-year-old boy whom nobody wants, not even the staff at the residential unit where he lives. Just when it seems that Shane might be getting through to Edgar, his mother reveals a secret that changes everything ... Melanie is Edgar's social worker, and an old friend of Shane's. When he meets her to discuss working with Edgar, Shane begins to realise that her own problems run far deeper ... ... One man's fight to give these children the childhood they deserve.

Boy in the Cupboard

Gill Macmillan Ltd

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Books by Shane Dunphy

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shane Dunphy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Wednesday's Child

Last Ditch House

Boy in the Cupboard