How a privately educated schoolboy, comes to reject his comfortable rural background to end up in the squats, drugs and hippy scene of 1970s.

The central theme of the book is Jeremy's need to escape from the intense relationship with his alcoholic, charismatic and mentally unstable mother, her lovers, his ageing, ailing father, and about his romantic relationships. Foremost among his mother's lovers is former Indian Army officer, Neville Prideaux, who lives in an apartment in their house. 'Uncle Neville' moves out and commits suicide, but his continued presence haunts the memoir. Among the Jeremy's amorous relationships, his bittersweet romance with vulnerable Clare stands out, and has quite an impact on his life. Besides being an engaging personal story, starting out in 1962, Jeremy coming-of-age makes you really care for him, what makes this memoir of particular interest is the way it explores how a 1968-style vision of the world collapsed in the 1970s, and its implications for Jeremy and many of his generation. This visionary countercultural world is not going to happen. The final chapters are set in Hornsey Rise, the largest squat in Europe. The embers of the counterculture, and its lived reality, are evoked in terms of its victims, drugs use and disillusioning effect on Jeremy. A journey about discovering what really matters in life. How a growing sense of self-belief can keep someone going in challenging circumstances. The Way to Hornsey Rise is a moving and very personal story, laced with intriguing observations about society, which all adds to its universal appeal.

Fiction. Memoir.