All this is mine - Ray French

South Wales, the 1960s - life is hard. Especially for Liam Bennett, ten years old, surrounded by Communists, and with a father who is losing his mind. Then the glamorous Marek Sikorski arrives, and turns Liam's life upside down. Marek's family have fled Communist Poland only to find a red flag flying over the town hall in Crindau. But Marek is determined that Wales should not suffer Poland's fate. Together, he and Liam form the Crindau resistance, and begin attacking trains they believe are bringing a wave of Communists into Wales. Drinking Polish vodka, selling looted cigarettes and making Molotov cocktails, Liam becomes a rebel with a cause. But while he wages his war against international Communism, his parents battle with each other, as his father frantically stockpiles food in fear of the imminent Russian invasion. Steeped in the exuberance and intense camaraderie of childhood, as well as its loneliness and pain, All This Is Mine is a moving, darkly funny novel about boys and men and heroes. It is a tender and sophisticated debut.