My Own Worst Enemy: Scenes of a Childhood

'A small masterpiece' The SpectatorMy Own Worst Enemy is a wry and moving memoir of a working-class childhood in 1960s Sheffield, and the relationship between a touchy, tragicomic bully of a father and a son whose acceptance to grammar school puts him on another track entirely. With a novelist's eye, Robert Edric vividly depicts a now-vanished era: of working-men’s clubs; of tight-knit communities in factory towns; and of a time when a woman’s place was in the home. And he brings to colourful life his family, both close and extended – though over all of it hovers the vanity and barely-suppressed anger of his own father. My Own Worst Enemy is a brilliantly specific portrait both of particular time and place – the Sheffield of half a century ago – and a universal story of childhood and family, and the ways they can go right or wrong.

‘Held me rapt … Edric’s hyper-precise detailing of his working class Sheffield childhood and appalling father is utterly compelling and deserves many a prize’ - Patrick Gale

''A brilliant portrait of growing up in 60s Sheffield ... [a] beautifully written, wonderful little book ... a powerful account … The cover of this book describes it as a ''masterpiece''. You cannot argue with that'' - Roger Alton, Daily Mail

''In astonishing detail, the novelist Robert Edric''s boyhood in 1960s Sheffield - and his bullying father - burst off the page ... An absolute masterclass in how to set a scene'' - Rachel Cooke, The Observer

''A painfully honest, almost Orwellian account of a struggling family expected to meet the every need of their demanding father, who never lets them forget that he deserved better in life'' - Chris Nancollas, The Tablet

''The historical novelist Robert Edric deserves to be much better known ... terrific account ... brilliantly fixes in the mind a time and place that are now both utterly lost'' - Sunday Times

‘A rather remarkable – and remarkably un-depressing – memoir’ - Clare Jenkins, On Magazine

Praise for Robert Edric

''The brilliant Yorkshire author Robert Edric has terrific range and versatility — memoir, historic fiction, detective stories; he does the lot, superbly'' - Alan Johnson, The Times

''Edric’s novels constitute one of the most astonishing bodies of work to appear from a single author for a generation'' - Daily Telegraph

''Much contemporary fiction seems inconsequential and fleeting by comparison'' - Guardian

''Edric is a novelist who makes his own rules and can’t be compared with anyone else'' - The Times

''This historical novelist''s poignant look back at his 1960s childhood is a little gem ... summons up with great care a world that is now so unfamiliar that is feels like another planet ... a book that feels as rich and carefully observed as any one of Edric''s historical novels ... should finally make Edric as celebrated as he so clearly deserves to be'' - Andrew Holgate, Sunday Times

''A small masterpiece'' The Spectator

My Own Worst Enemy is a wry and moving memoir of a working-class childhood in 1960s Sheffield, and the relationship between a touchy, tragicomic bully of a father and a son whose acceptance to grammar school puts him on another track entirely.

With a novelist''s eye, Robert Edric vividly depicts a now-vanished era: of working-men’s clubs; of tight-knit communities in factory towns; and of a time when a woman’s place was in the home. And he brings to colourful life his family, both close and extended – though over all of it hovers the vanity and barely-suppressed anger of his own father.

My Own Worst Enemy is a brilliantly specific portrait both of particular time and place – the Sheffield of half a century ago – and a universal story of childhood and family, and the ways they can go right or wrong.

• | Author: Robert Edric
• | Publisher: Swift Press
• | Publication Date: Sep 01, 2022
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781800750838
• | ISBN-10: 1800750838