A groundbreaking and award-shortlisted work of creative non-fiction, About a Son is a heartbreaking yet life-affirming story of a father's unending love for his murdered son and a determined quest for justice
'A book that reaches so deeply into the human experience that to read it is to be forever changed'
ELIZABETH DAY
One night in October 2015, twenty-year-old Morgan Hehir went out with friends and never came home.
In the aftermath of his funny, talented son's murder, Morgan's father Colin began to keep an extraordinary diary. It became a record of his family's grief, the ensuing trial, and his determined quest to uncover the shocking truth that the police had kept hidden.
Inspired by this diary, About A Son is a groundbreaking work of creative non-fiction that asks vital questions about the nature of justice and pays tribute to the unbreakable bond between a father and son.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE
I feel very lucky to have read this book. Extraordinary and important . . . a triumph - Adam Kay, bestselling author of THIS IS GOING TO HURT
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
About A Son is a story of grief and the urgent all consuming need for closure when truth and justice are denied. Told with such skill, almost like a letter to the grieving father, a gift that honours the details of the crime and its aftermath, while transforming them into art. Both forensic and compassionate, it asks how do we come to terms with the tragic loss of a beloved son, failed by the system and taken far too early. This is an enthralling and beautiful book that stands as a lasting testament to the power and pain of familial love - Lily Dunn, author of Sins of My Father
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
David Whitehouse's account of the senseless, preventable murder of a much-loved son, brother and friend, and the unfathomable grief that fuelled his father's quest for the truth, is an astonishing achievement. About A Son is a book that will stay with you for a long, long time. A memorial to Morgan Hehir, the love he gave and the love that surrounded him in his all too short life, it is as beautiful and brilliant as it is heart-breaking - Dan Davies, author of In Plain Sight, winner of the Gordon Burn Prize
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
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
Dr David Whitehouse is an author and astronomer, former BBC Science Correspondent and spaceflight insider. He is the winner of a Glaxo science-writing award, the first 'Arthur' - the space 'Oscar' for reporting. He is a past President of the Society for Popular Astronomy and is the author of The Moon: A Biography and The Sun: A Biography. Asteroid 4036 Whitehouse is named after him.