Dear Tom

In this infinitely touching book, the actor Tom Courtenay tells the story of his early life - up to his emergence as a 'star' in the film The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner - making use in the second half of the book of the letters written to him by his mother, from his home in Hull, during his depressed and depressing early days first as a student at University College in London, and then at RADA. Understandably, publicity has concentrated on these letters - which are a testimony to a remarkable, poorly educated but naturally extremely intelligent woman, whose love for her son shines through every line. The relatives, the friends, and above all Tom's Dad, are brought as vividly to life as by any professional author. But Courtenay's own narrative is equally vivid, amusing and touching - this is a real story of achievement, everywhere one looks, by parents striving to understand a son who has decided on a perilously uncertain career, and a son understanding their difficulty and concern. Apart from the story itself, and his often extremely funny account of his schooldays, Courtenay's book is a real contribution to the always fascinating and difficult subject of the parent-child relationship. And though it is pleasantly short of the usual actors' anecdotes, it is also a useful record of how a boy from an under-privileged family in the north managed to make himself into one of the most interesting and accomplished actors in England. (Kirkus UK)