Boy 11963: An Irish Industrial School Childhood and an Extraordinary Search for Home

— —

John Cameron

Boy 11963

An Irish Industrial School Childhood and an Extraordinary Search for Home

John Cameron

$36.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Hachette Books Ireland
31 August 2021

Autobiography: general; Memoirs; Family history, tracing ancestors

'Truth telling and truth recovery have seldom been as heart-breaking or necessary as in this powerful story of human vulnerability and failure - and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit.' JOE DUFFY

At only five months old, John Cameron was abandoned in a Dublin orphanage, and fostered out as a child labourer by

age three. In 1944 when he turned eight, he was incarcerated in Artane Industrial School, where he became boy 11963.

Now in his mid-eighties, John Cameron tells his shocking but inspirational story for the first time. As a child, reduced to a number, he survived savage assaults, sexual abuse and the tragic deaths of children around him. Along with other forgotten boys, he battled for his life against the heartless adversity of the church and the Irish state.

As a young man - a much-loved schoolteacher devoted to his growing family - John was haunted by his unknown past and embarked on a lifelong quest to unravel the truth about his origins. Buried in a labyrinth of lies, he finally uncovered a story of forbidden love and passion that scandalised rural Ireland and made national headlines in the 1930s.

Boy 11963 is a unique account of overcoming almost insurmountable obstacles to find out who you truly are.

By: John Cameron
Imprint: Hachette Books Ireland
Country of Publication: Ireland
Dimensions: Height: 232mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 32mm
Weight: 440g
ISBN: 9781529346343
ISBN 10: 1529346347
Pages: 368
Publication Date: 31 August 2021
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

John Cameron (1935-2022) was in his mid-eighties when his bestselling memoir Boy 11963 was published to wide acclaim in 2021. It tells the remarkable story of his early life in care, his time in Dublin's Artane Industrial School, and his later search for his origins. A father of five, John, a former schoolteacher, was husband to Treasa. They lived in Gorey, Wexford.

Reviews for Boy 11963: An Irish Industrial School Childhood and an Extraordinary Search for Home

A story that needed to be told * Irish Independent * One of the biggest and most pleasant surprises of my reading life ... a truly unique life story ... [a] well-written, well-paced account of [John Cameron's] exceptional life * Irish Times * Beautiful * The Gloss *