Wigan author re-lives pain of past for book about childhood

Jack Marriot, from Standish, has penned Parental Damage based on the troubles he suffered at the hands of his stepmother, how he ended up in borstal and how he found his way out of the darkest places thanks to boxing.

Other news: Knife thugs unmasked by brave manager during Wigan shop raid are locked upThe heavily-autobiographical book is the first of three volumes Jack is planning, with further accounts of his adult life in the pipeline.

However, he will also have to draw a veil over some of his adventures as he worked for year as a high-level bodyguard, a career which means he also retains some secrecy around his identity and writes under a pen name.

Jack said he needed some convincing both to put pen to paper and then to get Parental Damage published and admitted going through much of his childhood again was an often-painful process.

Jack, 55, said: “This was something I didn’t think I would do, but as I got older realised I had to do.

“I had things to put to rest and writing the book has helped me.

“I just started writing it one day. I had to relive a lot of experiences and it was very hard, my wife said at one point I should stop as it was killing me.

“When I got to the end it was a big release. I put it to one side for about 10 years.

“It turned up again and people said I should do something with it and luckily enough I found a publisher.

“I was quite a disruptive kid at school and that was based on the things going on in my home life. To be truthful a lot of people washed their hands of me.

“I’ve always been writing but it has to be something that means something to me.

“I don’t really do fiction, it’s not really my thing. It has to be something I have experience of and know about.”

Parental Damage follows Jack as new family member Marie makes her stepson’s life a misery, leading to him becoming distant from the father he adores and getting him into trouble with the law.

Alongside this the book traces his path as a very promising amateur boxer, though the fame and glamour of turning professional would not in the end be the direction Jack’s life took.

Parental Damage follows Jack much of the way through his teenage years with a dramatic conclusion setting the scene for its follow-up, which the author is currently writing.

So far the reviews for Parental Damage have been excellent.

Jack said: “It’s exciting that people are getting something back. Everybody has said it’s not just the story, it’s the emotion they can feel from it.

“I think that’s because it’s something I lived.”

Two more volumes are now planned for Jack’s adulthood, with the final one likely to cover his secretive work as a close protection officer working with some very high-profile clients.

And Jack is still in the world of security now, acting as a consultant.

Parental Damage, by Jack Marriot, is out now in both paperback and ebook versions, available from high street bookstores and online retailers.

For more information visit www.i2ipublishing.co.uk