About A Son
A Murder and A Father’s Search for Truth

Quotes

I feel very lucky to have read this book. Extraordinary and important . . . a triumph Adam Kay, bestselling author of This Is Going To Hurt

Gripping, moving and beautifully executed . . . This is the first book I've read in a long time that acknowledges the grief, rage and misery of a crime's aftermath, and it does so with such truthfulness, humanity and respect. Hugely affecting David Nicholls

I was utterly floored by the emotional depth of About A Son - a book that reaches so deeply into the human experience that to read it is to be forever changed. It is an unflinching examination of grief, a painstaking deconstruction of injustice and a dispatch from the frontiers of the human heart. David Whitehouse has written something of great power and truth. In doing so, he has ensured that Colin Hehir's beloved son, Morgan, and the family's fight for justice will never be forgotten. Elizabeth Day, author of How To Fail

The book that everyone will be talking about this year: a staggering work of honesty, empathy and humanity, wholly unlike anything else you will have read. Whitehouse is a masterful storyteller who builds an intimate, immersive and unflinching portrait of a boy lost to preventable violence and the family who loved him. I found it absolutely compelling from the first word to the last and know I will never forget it Terri White, author of Coming Undone

An incredibly compassionate and moving story of loss, grief and enduring love. The portrait of a father's determination and resilience left me filled with both heartache and hope. David Whitehouse is a singularly gifted and deeply compelling writer and this beautiful book opened my eyes to what creative non-fiction can be and do. Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love

I was lucky enough to bag a preview copy of this startling piece of non-fiction a few months ahead of its official release in April. Weird thing to say, but the author might have invented a new genre of literature here, so unique are the events leading up to the book's publication. Part evidence-led true-crime investigation and part psycho-spiritual communion with the essence of grief itself, About A Son is unlike anything you've ever read, I guarantee. This deserves to be massive in 2022 Time Out

Shocking, harrowing and sensitive . . . brings their love for Morgan to vivid life. Whitehouse writes in a spare style reminiscent of Gordon Burn Observer, Book of the Week

An astonishing tale of profound love and grief . . . The facts tell nothing of the staggering emotional heft held within its 272 pages, as this singular blend of memoir, reportage and true crime investigation enmesh the reader in a tale of profound love, towering grief and intense indignation at a justice system that let down the Hehirs . . . . Exceptional . . . as much as it is about his death, it is also a tribute to who Morgan Hehir was, and the memory of his life will live long inside anyone who reads it The i

A feat of creative non-fiction. A mix of true crime and memoir, it's a book that pays tribute to Morgan as a young man whose life was suddenly cut short, while also being a book about Nuneaton itself, capturing the grit and tragedy beneath the surface of the town, as well as a sense of community and openness. Whitehouse's writing is brilliant and devastating The Skinny

A book of love and grief, and about what justice can and cannot deliver. I shall always remember Morgan and his family Sunjeev Sahota, author of The Year of The Runaways

Awards

• Gordon Burn Prize