Written off by 17: Paddy Fox’s raw memoir of surviving institutional care

Paddy Fox describes himself as an ordinary man and Six Hail Marys and a Bag of Chips is an ordinary man’s account of an extraordinary life. It traces, often in vivid detail, his journey from childhood neglect and institutional abuse to independence, achievement and a refusal to accept the future others had chosen for him.

Fox was born on Christmas Day 1950 in Marston Green, Solihull. He spent his first three years hidden in an attic before being placed in a Catholic orphanage, where cruelty, humiliation and punishment were part of daily life.

Labelled stupid and treated as worthless, he grew up without the security or guidance most children take for granted. By 17 he was homeless and had been to prison. He believed he had reached the end of the road that had been mapped out for him.

He hadn’t. The rest of the book follows his stubborn, often funny, efforts to build something different – eventually a marriage, four children and a settled life in Worcestershire.

Speaking in a video about the book, Fox is clear about who he wrote it for. “My target audience was people from the care system. Knowing what I went through I knew I couldn’t be the only one and the abuse that I saw as a child and afterwards I really wanted to write their story. To do it justice I had to go back in time and I had to relive those days and because I’m telling their story as well as my own, I had to get it right.

“This story is for everybody who lived my life. Because I am talking for them as well, I had to be totally honest, I had to be raw, I had to open my heart and really make people feel the pain that we went through. I hope people will read this book and say: ‘That was me and that book has helped me.’”

He pulls no punches. The detail is often raw and graphic and he writes about his sex life openly and without embarrassment. But the book is also warm and full of small kindnesses between people who had little to give.

Determination and strength of will carry Fox a long way, but he is honest that he didn’t do it alone. The support of others was crucial in helping him take control of his life, often against the odds, and build a secure future for himself and his family.

Written in a plain, very readable style, the book should offer hope to anyone who has been made to feel unworthy, incapable or trapped by their past. It’s well worth a read.

Six Hail Marys and a Bag of Chips by Paddy Fox is published by Marcia M Publishing House. Buy it here.