First published 2002
Dolores Gauci stands in the cramped rooms of her childhood home in Cardiff's Tiger Bay, surrounded by the debris of her family's fractured life. Her Maltese father Giuseppe has vanished again, leaving behind only empty bottles and unpaid bills. Her mother Rita retreats deeper into silence while her younger siblings scatter like startled birds. The house itself becomes a character in their survival story, its hiding places and shadows concealing more than just poverty. Dolores must navigate between her father's explosive temper when he returns and her mother's quiet desperation. The neighbors whisper about the Gauci family, but Dolores learns that every household on their street harbors its own buried truths. As she grows older, she discovers that some family secrets demand a price for their keeping, while others offer unexpected paths to freedom.
Genres: literary-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate
Tropes: found-family
Setting: Cardiff, Tiger Bay
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
1 pages · Paperback · Columna CAT
Content warnings: domestic-violence