Roseghetto

'Roseghetto is a remarkable, at times confronting, story. It is a tale that needs to be told, with both tenderness and honesty. Only a writer of Kirsty Jagger's calibre could write this story. Roseghetto is in her blood and in her bones.' Tony Birch 'Kirsty Jagger has produced something profound in Roseghetto, a gritty, urban story about the underprivileged existing in plain sight. Jagger inhabits the landscape of poverty, oppression and injustice with a light hand and a deeply authentic touch. The veracity of this book is never in doubt, as Jagger explores a childhood of deprivation and hardship, while never losing the sparkle of hope.' Michelle Johnston 'Disturbing and moving, Roseghetto is a clear-eyed exploration of growing up under the unyielding threat of violence and economic powerlessness in Sydney's poorer western suburbs of the 1980s and 90s. And yet Kirsty Jagger writes with enough love and understanding to make her story a chronicle of just about every decade in the darker side of Australian life. Her protagonist Shayla is beautifully drawn, a heartbreaking but ultimately powerful lightning rod for the way self-determination can grow from even the cruellest beginnings.' Venero Armanno 'Courageous, deeply moving and beautifully written, Roseghetto is a glorious paean to the power of stories, and to the power of speaking the truth. It's impossible not to love the brilliant and determined Shayla - and impossible to finish reading Roseghetto and remain unchanged. A powerful and important debut.' Kathryn Heyman