Without Warning and Only Sometimes

Intelligent, angry and sometimes very funny

Scotsman

Dynamic and immersive, Kit de Waal's effervescent memoir documents a fraught childhood of opposites and conflicting identities with wit, humanity and an uncanny power for bringing the figures of her youth to vibrant life.

Maggie O'Farrell

A delightful and harrowing book. I can't think of another since Edmund Gosse's Father and Son that gives such a well-written child's-eye view of an upbringing in a suffocating Christian sect . . . I highly recommend

Irish Times

This is a sometimes bleak, often funny tale of finding a way to live through reading, which is all the more amazing given the only book in Kit's house was the Bible

Radio Times, Book of the Week

Kit's writing is beautiful - vivid and compelling, and so moving. Families are such a mix of joy and pain and Kit's depiction of her parents' dynamic was both painful and comforting to read. There's so much love, warmth and hope. I wanted to keep reading this book for ever

Marian Keyes

I knew Kit de Waal was special the moment I met her. And now I know why

Lemn Sissay

Warm, honest, perceptive and moving, and the very best kind of memoir, because not only does it tell you about someone else's life, it tells you about your own

Joanna Cannon

I loved it and couldn't put it down. Both joyous and heartbreaking, it captures an era and is also a beautiful tribute to sibling love, and a completely compelling story of how one girl became a reader

Cathy Rentzenbrink

A window into an extraordinary childhood, told with blistering wit, pathos and joy, I could not have loved this more. Kit takes you on a thrilling ride traversing her past filled with humour, faith, joy and dysfunction. I defy you not to lake it into your heart

Abi Morgan

I couldn't put this book down. Beautifully written and searingly honest. Eye-opening, funny and moving - the words fly off the page. I didn't want this book to end Kit de Waal is a natural born storyteller

Paul McVeigh

I adored this book. The beauty of its prose, the poetry of its imagery. It's open-hearted, frank, funny, and wise. Unflinching but unpitying. I've returned to most sections twice and several a few more than that. It's a memoir filled with warmth, joy and heartbreak, written with the immediacy of a thriller and the poignancy of a love letter. It is a love letter - to a brave, curious, funny girl I now feel like I've known all my life

Séamas O'Reilly

Touching and authentic - I loved this memoir

Clare Mackintosh

A beautifully written and unsentimental account of growing up Black and Irish in Birmingham at a time when neither were particularly welcome. Inspiring, unflinching and courageous

Liz Nugent