{"product_id":"boy-with-the-topknot","title":"Boy With The Topknot","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Could not be more enjoyable, engaging or moving\u003c\/b\u003e'' \u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eIt''s 1979, I''m three years old, and like all breakfast times during my youth it begins with Mum combing\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e 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.\u003c\/i\u003e\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''I absolutely loved it. \u003cb\u003eHeartbreaking and wonderful\u003c\/b\u003e. He writes beautifully'' Maggie O''Farrell\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''Tragic, funny and disturbing. \u003cb\u003eIt will challenge you, and may even change you\u003c\/b\u003e'' Carole Angier, \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished in hardback as \u003ci\u003eIf You Don''t Know Me by Now\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57320043938174,"sku":"NW9780141028590","price":11.08,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9780141028590.jpg?v=1778240093","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/boy-with-the-topknot","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}