Smile Though Your Heart is Breaking - Pauline Prescott
Pauline Prescott went almost overnight from a Hull hairdresser to a key participant in the nation’s political events. Loyal, sharp, good humoured, articulate and dignified, her world was turned upside down when more than 40 years after she was forced to give her son up for adoption, the press had tracked him down. Warm, moving and at times painfully sad, her story is almost Cookson-esque and will shock, amaze and delight. This is one of the unmissable reads of the year.