Lowborn

I loved Lowborn... A powerful exploration of Hudson's working-class childhood and its legacy -- David Nicholls, author of One Day
Hudson's resilience, grace and humility is staggering. She's an absolute inspiration -- Douglas Stewart * Herald *
Absolutely beautiful -- Stanley Tucci
Kerry Hudson blew me away, opened my eyes -- Philippa Perry, author of The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read * You're Booked *
Compelling, fascinating and well-written, undeniably grim but peppered with humour and tenderness...Hudson demonstrates that only by lifting whole communities out of poverty...can we hope to avoid consigning children and young people like her - vulnerable and blameless - to the worst of lives -- Kit de Waal * Daily Telegraph *
Lowborn is in part an indictment of a country that claims to still have a functioning welfare state... Most of all, it is a moving portrait of the survival and eventual flourishing of a remarkable spirit -- John Harris * Guardian *
I've been in thrall to the words of Kerry Hudson since reading the very first sentence of her spectacularly good debut novel. I'm so glad she is writing Lowborn. It's an important book that needs to existand she is exactly the right person to write it. The hideous divisiveness that the horror that is Brexit has both revealed and fuelled, only makes this book more necessary -- Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of THE LAST ACT OF LOVE
Elegant, compassionate and powerful... tells the hidden story of what it means to be poor in Britain today -- Charlotte Heathcote * Sunday Express *
Lowborn is an insider's view of the complexities of modern-day poverty, written with humour and compassion, but without judgement. It should be required reading for anyone who unknowingly believes poverty is a personal choice and that if you work hard enough you'll avoid its fate... a fearless writer, an inspiring woman -- Jackie Annesley * Sunday Times *
One of the most important books of the year -- Nikesh Shukla * Guardian *
Beautifully written but with emotional hand grenades detonating on almost every page...a breathtaking odyssey -- Stephen McGinty * Sunday Times *
Where there are few working-class stories, there are fewer still from working-class women. Lowborn stands out as rare, as well as compassionately and skilfully told… Some books help us understand the world around us. Others do that, and make us feel less alone in it, too. Lowborn is one such book, holding out a hand of friendship to anyone who might pick it up and find something forgotten or familiar among its pages -- Laura Waddell * Scotsman *
I wish I’d had access to such honest and relatable work as Hudson’s when I was younger. She proves that successful women can have a working-class story -- Hollie Richardson * Stylist *
Hudson has written a moving and readable account of growing up in the poorest section of society. Her book is also a meditation on social mobility… Hudson’s life is proof that a person can, against the odds, make a success of themselves. In Lowborn, she shows us very clearly why so many do not -- James Bloodworth * The Times *
Lowborn is the opposite of a misery memoir. The chapters alternate between Hudson's raw memories and accounts of her present-day attempts to confront them. There's warmth and courage as well as pain and ultimately triumph here * New Statesman *