As a schoolboy in suburban Sydney in 1952, Tom Keneally was a romantic. He had visions of following in his hero Chatterton's poetic footsteps. He dreamt of triumphing on the running track or rugby field. He had hopes of winning the heart of the beautiful but aloof Bernadette Curran. The one role he did not foresee himself playing was priest, until the momentous day when Bernadette announced her intention of becoming a nun. In this memoir, Keneally conjures up his youthful self and those who influenced his life. It provides an insight into the future novelist, and an evocation of adolescence that is as funny as it is poignant.