ABOUT
THE BOOK

He’s the terror of Barrytown Municipal School, a squalid neighbourhood on the outskirts of Dublin in the 1960s. His name is Paddy Clarke. A Geronimo fanatic, this kid spends his time dreaming up the worst pranks. But the rascal has a secret. Harmony is far from the norm at the Clarke household. Between Sindbad, his younger brother with his unsettling muteness, and his parents’ constant arguments, Paddy is cracking under the pressure. Until one night, after a final argument, blows are exchanged and the door slams. His father has just abandoned them. At school, rumors quickly spread. And the abandoned child soon becomes the target of everyone’s ridicule: “Paddy Clarke doesn’t have a daddy anymore! Ha Ha Ha!”