Damian Barr Books in Order

Drawing on interviews with young adults, Damian Barr examines the pressures of finding direction in one’s twenties. Sections on work, money, housing and relationships explore practical choices alongside the anxiety of feeling everyone else is succeeding.

Damian Barr recalls growing up gay in a divided Scottish community during the Thatcher years. Family upheaval, violence and economic decline shape his childhood, while books, education and first love offer the possibility of escape.

Two South African families a century apart confront institutions promising protection while inflicting harm. A mother and child enter a Boer War concentration camp, while a modern teenager is sent away to be made into a man.