What I Did

A boy runs across a busy road. His father smacks him. A passer-by intervenes ... When Billy Wright runs across a busy road, his world is altered irreversibly, even though he doesn't realise it at the time. Because a passer-by has stopped to watch the scene. She has seen Billy's father catch up with him and smack him. Within an hour she has informed social services, plunging the family into a living nightmare which begins with a social worker's visit and escalates through a series of misunderstandings until the family is threatened to its core. What I Did is a powerful novel about the unseen consequences of a split second decision, about a childhood interrupted and the lengths we go to to protect the ones we love. It is frequently heartbreaking, blackly funny, and utterly compelling.