Our Side of the House [Paperback]

'A funny, and sometimes painful, history of the tricky nuances of religious distinction...'

'Rumbustiously readable.'

'Finely crafted collage of events and relationships delves deep into the social fabric of Ulster.'

'Funny and uplifting.... neatly swerves round the potholes of cliche and romanticism... will strike a chord with anyone who has lived in or visited the North.'

'Splendid... highly enjoyable.'

'I urge people to read this book. It will tell... readers more about attitudes in the troubled North than they will find in more earnest tomes.'

"Is he from our side of the house?" Is he, in other words, a Catholic? It was a question Michael Kerr heard often when he was growing up in Northern Ireland during the worst years of the Troubles. But his was a house where both sides were welcome; a seaside boarding house that was home to a family of eleven and temporary residence for hundreds more. In this memoir, which is by turns funny and sad, he recalls an "occupied Ireland" with a difference. There were no soldiers on the streets, but there was an army of strangers in the beds.

Michael Kerr was born and grew up in Northern Ireland and now lives near London, where he has worked as a journalist since 1977.