Hailing from the Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth North, Shannon Burns’ parents were young and working class; for most of their lives they survived on welfare payments. His mother was the wild daughter of Greek parents; his father was the son of an English sailor who abandoned his family of seven children, leaving Burns’ father to grow up in state care. His mother was in her late teens and father in his late twenties when they hooked up. Neither had finished high school and neither had a trade or profession which would provide any stability.

Burns’ mother had told his father that she was pregnant and convinced him to move in with her. Eleven months later, Shannon Burns was born – the timing another product of his mother’s litany of deceptions. She could be very warm and affectionate but could also fly into terrible rages and Burns’ father moved out after she smashed him over the head with his guitar. His mother moved through a progression of men and relationships that usually ended in some sort of raging conflict.

When Burns was eight or nine years old, he was sent to live with his father and stepmother, to another dysfunctional home. Following that, he was bounced around different care situations, all horrible in different ways. He withdrew and developed ways of coping with the chaos around him, and one of those mechanisms was reading.

Burns’ story by itself is sad, moving and inspiring, but what makes this book truly exceptional is the power and perceptiveness of the writing. It’s a marvellous work.

Mark Rubbo is the managing director at Readings.