{"title":"Books by Damian Barr","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781408838099","title":"Maggie \u0026 Me","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA unique, tender and witty memoir of surviving the tough streets of small town Scotland during the Margaret Thatcher years\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Shocking and funny in equal measure, and will have you weeping with laughter and sorrow'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eIndependent on Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A work of stealthy genius' \u003c\/b\u003eMaggie O'Farrell\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Certain memoirs catch a moment and seem to define it, bottle it ... hugely entertaining'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt's 12 October 1984. An IRA bomb blows apart the Grand Hotel in  Brighton. Miraculously, Margaret Thatcher survives. In small-town Scotland,  eight-year-old Damian Barr watches in horror as his mum rips her wedding  ring off and packs their bags. He knows he, too, must survive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Damian, his sister and his Catholic mum move in with her sinister new  boyfriend while his Protestant dad shacks up with the glamorous Mary the  Canary. Divided by sectarian suspicion, the community is held together  by the sprawling Ravenscraig Steelworks. But darkness threatens as  Maggie takes hold: she snatches school milk, smashes the unions and  makes greed good. Following Maggie's advice, Damian works hard and plans  his escape. He discovers that stories can save your life and - in spite  of violence, strikes, AIDS and Clause 28 - manages to fall in love  dancing to Madonna in Glasgow's only gay club. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMaggie \u0026amp; Me \u003c\/i\u003eis  a touching and darkly witty memoir about surviving Thatcher's Britain; a  story of growing up gay in a straight world and coming out the other  side in spite of, and maybe because of, the iron lady.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDamian Barr's critically acclaimed debut novel, \u003ci\u003eYOU WILL BE SAFE HERE\u003c\/i\u003e, also available now.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56299131175285,"sku":"9781408838099","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781408838099_cdfc90ce-dc20-4c0e-8bd2-5742d8e6fd53.jpg?v=1786034427"},{"product_id":"you-will-be-safe-here","title":"You Will Be Safe Here","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn \u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGuardian, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSunday Times South Africa\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e Irish Times,\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eIrish Independent\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBig Issue \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eStrong Words\u003c\/i\u003e Pick of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cb\u003eAn \u003ci\u003eIrish Times \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e Summer Reading Pick \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cb\u003eShortlisted for the Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year Award\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for the \u003ci\u003eLondon \u003c\/i\u003eMagazine Debut Fiction Prize 2020\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLonglisted for HWA Debut Crown 2020\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘Beautifully written and emotionally devastating’ \u003ci\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA beautiful and heart-breaking story set in South Africa where two mothers - a century apart - must fight for their sons, unaware their fates are inextricably linked.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOrange Free State, 1901. At the height of the Boer War, Sarah van der Watt and her six-year-old son Fred can only watch as the British burn their farm. The polite invaders cart them off to Bloemfontein Concentration Camp promising you will be safe here.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  Johannesburg, 2010. Sixteen-year-old Willem is an outsider who just wants to be left alone with his Harry Potter books and Britney, his beloved pug. Worried he’s turning out soft, his Ma and her new boyfriend send him to New Dawn Safari Camp, where they ‘make men out of boys.’ Guaranteed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The red earth of the \u003ci\u003eveldt \u003c\/i\u003ekeeps countless secrets whether beaten by the blistering sun or stretching out beneath starlit stillness. But no secret can stay buried forever.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57483557765493,"sku":"9781408886052","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781408886052.jpg?v=1786178739"},{"product_id":"the-two-roberts","title":"The Two Roberts","description":"WATERSTONES AND FOYLES BOOK OF THE MONTH FOR SEPTEMBER 2026SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION 2025SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL WRITING AWARD FOR FICTION 2026SHORTLISTED FOR THE WINSTON GRAHAM PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2026LONGLISTED FOR SCOTLAND'S NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2026LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2026A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK A BEST FICTION BOOK OF 2025 FOR THE GUARDIAN, THE OBSERVER, THE HERALD AND THE BBC'Crackles with creative rebellion' DOUGLAS STUART'immersive, intelligent, immensely sensual' ELIF SHAFAK'A tender and evocative act of resurrection' JAMES CAHILL, SPECTATOR'The greatest and truest story of two male lovers I have ever read' RUSSELL T DAVIES'Deeply affecting . . . vivid and moving' PETER PARKER, THE TIMESHe will stay like this forever, Robert's arm draped round him. They will be forever twenty. Scotland, 1933. Bobby MacBryde is off to the Glasgow School of Art. On his first day he will meet another Robert, a quiet man with loose dark curls - and never leave his side. With the world on the brink of war, their unrivalled talent takes them all over Europe, partying, loving, fighting, painting. The pair become stars as the bombs fall in this stunningly re-imagined true story of devotion and obsession, art and class.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57509987746165,"sku":"9781837261253","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781837261253.jpg?v=1787130172"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-damian-barr.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}