Kerry Hudson

Kerry Hudson was born in Aberdeen and grew up in a succession of council estates, bed-and-breakfasts and caravan parks. She now lives and writes in East London.

Her first novel is Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-cream Float Before He Stole My Ma. The book began life as a collection of short stories based on tales told to her by mother and grandmother, and then reshaped into a novel in a six-month writing stint in Vietnam.

Janie Ryan doesn't know her father, although she's been told that he's a glamorous American. Her mother, Irene, met him down in London, but she's returned home to give birth. Irene's mother misses the birth of her first grandchild to go to the bingo. The family's adversarial nature means that Irene and her newborn are soon out on the streets and Janie is taken briefly into care, but things look brighter when her mum falls for the charismatic Tony Hogan.