Overview

*Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize* ""A shattering portrait of addiction--generously open, desperately honest and confronting."" --Catherine Cho, author of Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness An electrifying debut memoir of a pastor's son chronicling his loss of faith, his addiction to heroin and our universal quest to find something to believe in Matt Rowland Hill had two great loves in his life: Jesus and heroin. The son of an evangelical minister, Hill grew up with an unwavering devotion to the tenets of his parents' Baptist church. But by high school, he began to experience a crisis of faith. To fill the void, he turned to literature, and then to heroin and cocaine. By his twenties, Hill's substance abuse escalated into a full-on addiction. As he grew increasingly suicidal, he knew he had to come to terms with both religion and drugs to survive. Hill's debut is an extraordinary, gorgeously crafted memoir of faith, family, loss, shame and addiction. But ultimately, Original Sins is a raw portrait of survival--of growing up and learning how to live.

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9781335469571

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Reviews

A stunningly well-written, funny, heartrending and utterly gripping memoir about learning how to live with who we are. Read it. Read it now. --Nathan Filer, author of The Shock of the Fall A wildly original and gripping debut, told with humor and compassion, about what it means to survive. --Christie Watson, author of The Language of Kindness What a frightening and funny book, full of shocking, memorable scenes. I'm glad Matt Rowland Hill lived to tell the tale. --Adam Foulds, author of The Quickening Maze Matt Rowland Hill guides us to the edge of devastation, and doesn't flinch from the ache of addiction, family anguish and inward despair. But this is a book that's optimistic to the core, as honest about grief as it is about joy. I won't forget it. --Jessica J. Lee, author of Two Trees Make a Forest and Turning Original Sins is a shattering portrait of addiction -- it's generously open, desperately honest and confronting. While it is heartbreaking, there is humour and compassion. It's a journey through darkness, against fear, to finding the light in oneself. --Catherine Cho, author of Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness

A stunningly well-written, funny, heartrending and utterly gripping memoir about learning how to live with who we are. Read it. Read it now. --Nathan Filer, author of The Shock of the Fall A wildly original and gripping debut, told with humor and compassion, about what it means to survive. --Christie Watson, author of The Language of Kindness What a frightening and funny book, full of shocking, memorable scenes. I'm glad Matt Rowland Hill lived to tell the tale. --Adam Foulds, author of The Quickening Maze Matt Rowland Hill guides us to the edge of devastation, and doesn't flinch from the ache of addiction, family anguish and inward despair. But this is a book that's optimistic to the core, as honest about grief as it is about joy. I won't forget it. --Jessica J. Lee, author of Two Trees Make a Forest and Turning Original Sins is a shattering portrait of addiction -- it's generously open, desperately honest and confronting. While it is heartbreaking, there is humour and compassion. It's a journey through darkness, against fear, to finding the light in oneself. --Catherine Cho, author of Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness A cross between Junky and Crossroads. Matt Rowland Hill does an exceptional job delineating the horror of shame-based parenting. --Nell Zink, National Book Award-nominated author of Mislaid [An] exquisite and unflinching debut... Combined with his stunning prose, his clever use of biblical metaphors... makes his story of salvation all the more affecting. In a sea of addiction memoirs, this stands out. --Publishers Weekly STARRED review

A stunningly well-written, funny, heartrending and utterly gripping memoir about learning how to live with who we are. Read it. Read it now. --Nathan Filer, author of The Shock of the Fall A wildly original and gripping debut, told with humor and compassion, about what it means to survive. --Christie Watson, author of The Language of Kindness What a frightening and funny book, full of shocking, memorable scenes. I'm glad Matt Rowland Hill lived to tell the tale Adam Foulds, author of The Quickening Maz

Author Information

Matt Rowland Hill was born in 1984 in Pontypridd, South Wales, and grew up in Wales and England. His writing has appeared in the Guardian, the Independent, New Statesman, the Telegraph and other outlets. He now lives in London. Original Sins is his first book.

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