AustLit

'At the age of 21, James Dack found himself alone and responsible for raising his younger brother Stephen when their loving mother lost a long battle with cancer. Long estranged from their abusive and alcoholic father, the pair were soon homeless and sleeping on the floor of the gym at the local Police Citizens Youth Club.

'This is the powerful story of the brothers' struggle to survive the often brutal culture of the inner-city public housing estates they called home and find their places in the world - James as a real estate millionaire and Steve, after battling alcoholism, as a criminal lawyer - without going far from the neighbourhood that shaped them.

'It's also a story of loyalty, to each other, their heartland Woolloomooloo in Sydney, and most of all, to the memory of their mother whose love was always the compass that ensured they kept their bearings.' (From the publisher's website.)