We Are All Shipwrecks

Kelly Carlisle was three weeks old when her mother was strangled in downtown Los Angeles, leaving Kelly in the care of her grandfather, an eccentric Englishman who owned a porn store and lived on a boat in the harbour. It is here that Kelly finds a home amongst friendly alcoholics and the city's forgotten residents. Now, as an adult, Kelly is drawn to the thornier truths of her own family history. Unflinchingly raw and vividly drawn, this book is a memoir of an unconventional childhood and one woman's courageous journey to the knowledge that where you come from isn't always who you are.