“Some have quirkier quirks and deeper secrets than others, but all of them, including one’s own parents, have two or three private habits hidden up their sleeves that would probably make you gasp if you knew about them.”
“How could someone like my dad be in trouble? It wasn’t the sort of thing you’d expect of him. He’s a big, open, easygoing Australian. He came over from Brisbane with qualifications on accountancy, intending to study economics -which is how he met Mum, who was reading English Literature at the University of Manchester.”
Solomon is full of anger: with his teachers, with his parents, with himself. He cannot bear to be at school or at home, so he hides in a corner of the kirkyard.