Liverpool in the shadow of a war

The book opens with a poem, which the reader will be able relate to at various stages throughout the story, the writing of the poem, as it is explained in the foreword, was the genesis of the book.
The book in the first part, paints a vivid picture for the reader of a tough, hard and yet at times very funny way of life that has long since been forgotten. A time when sugar and tea was bought in brown paper bags, when every foodstuff was by its very nature 'Organic' and when poverty was the norm.
Starting the Liverpool Docklands of the early 1920s the book talks about the life of the authors Father who will become the central pivot upon which the story turns on to show the terrible impact that one man's life experiences during wartime can have on the rest of his family for years into the future. Working on several levels, the story explores a disease unknown during the Second World War, often labelled as 'Shell Shock' or 'Lack of Moral Fibre' but today diagnosed as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
It also explores the workings of a child's mind in his trying to cope with being deserted by those he loves and left to fend for himself, whist at the same time doing his best to maintain the illusion of a normal life.
In essence, the theme of the book is about how a troubled son, through looking back over the years at the lives of those who closest to him, learns to forgive and understand the pain of others.