Into the Light

Richard McCann's account of his childhood became a massive UK bestseller. In it he told the harrowing story of how he and his sisters were left motherless when the Yorkshire Ripper killed his first victim, Richard's mother Wilma McCann. "Just A Boy" was praised for its unflinching and unself-pitying account of a neglected childhood at the hands of an abusive father and uncaring authorities. The only constants in his and his sister's lives were grief for their mother and newspaper coverage of her killer and the gruesome nature of his crimes. "Into the Light" is an account of how Richard used the success of "Just A Boy" to try and save his sister, to recover from the past and to learn more about the effects of traumatic childhood's and loss - in order to help others who are suffering. With his book in the bestseller charts Richard meets other children of Sutcliffe's victims. He is invited to meet survivors' groups and support groups of grieving families. "Into the Light" includes their stories of heartbreaking suffering and incredible strength. He decides to return to college so that he can go to university and train to become the social worker his family never had.He visits prisons and becomes a voluntary counsellor - in short Richard McCann comes to terms with the loss of his own childhood by talking to others, hearing their stories and learning about how to accept the past and move on. "Into the Light" is a tremendously gripping, moving and uplifting book. The story of a young man determined to do some good after suffering many terrible wrongs.

Sometimes a sequel to a brilliant book is disappointing. This is certainly not the case with "Into The Light". Richard McCann's first book "Just A Boy" was extremely powerful and moving; his sequel has the same attributes. "Just A Boy" gave the message that a person can survive abuse and make a success of their life. This sequel demonstrates clearly how McCann actually did this and continues to do so.