Kit de Waal
Author of My Name Is Leon
About the Author
Works by Kit de Waal
Associated Works
New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent (2019) — Contributor — 116 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1960
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Oxford Brookes University(MA|Creative Writing)
- Occupations
- She worked for 15 years in criminal and family law and as a magistrate (Justice of the Peace). She sits on adoption panels, worked as an adviser for Social Services and has written training manuals on adoption and foster care.
- Short biography
- Mandy Theresa O'Loughlin (born 26 July 1960), known professionally as Kit de Waal, is an English writer. De Waal was born in Birmingham, England, to Sheila O'Loughlin (née Doyle), a foster carer, registered child minder and auxiliary nurse, and Arthur Desmond O'Loughlin, a bus driver. Her maternal grandparents were Irish, from County Wexford, her father was from Basseterre, St. Kitts in the West Indies and a descendant of William Julius.
De Waal attended Waverly Grammar School in Small Heath, Birmingham. She worked for 15 years in criminal and family law and as a magistrate (Justice of the Peace). She sits on adoption panels, worked as an adviser for Social Services and has written training manuals on adoption and foster care. She began writing for pleasure at an early age, and when her children were relatively independent, she decided to study creative writing which she did at Oxford Brookes University, achieving a master's degree.De Waal is married to John de Waal, QC, son of Victor de Waal. They have two children. - Nationality
- England
UK - Birthplace
- Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, UK
- Map Location
- England, UK
Members
Discussions
British Author Challenge April 2026: Kit de Waal & Stephen Fry in 75 Books Challenge for 2026 (May 9)
Reviews
A woman's dreams are shattered when the man she loves is killed in a car accident; she takes the broken pieces of her life and rebuilds her self a new, and unexpected, one.
I can't remember the last time I read a realistic novel with characters who are so...realistic. De Waal has created people who are so beautifully, messily human that I couldn't help but cry for their pains and cheer for their triumphs.
This is the first book I've read by Kit de Waal, but it definitely won't be the last.
Oh, show more and I think the original title, The Best of Everything, fits the book better than its American title.
Received via NetGalley. show less
I can't remember the last time I read a realistic novel with characters who are so...realistic. De Waal has created people who are so beautifully, messily human that I couldn't help but cry for their pains and cheer for their triumphs.
This is the first book I've read by Kit de Waal, but it definitely won't be the last.
Oh, show more and I think the original title, The Best of Everything, fits the book better than its American title.
Received via NetGalley. show less
This book should come with a packet of tissues; I felt so emotionally invested in this book and completely engrossed in Leon's story that I kept thinking about it long after I had turned the final page.
Leon is almost 9 years old and already he is acting as a carer for his baby brother, Jake, and his mother, Carol. As it becomes clear that his mother cannot look after Leon and Jake, or even herself, Leon and Jake are taken into care. So they pack their meagre belongings and go to live with show more Maureen, their foster carer. Maureen has fostered lots of children and she welcomes each and every one of them into her home and loves them as if they were her own children. With Maureen opening her heart to Leon and Jake so unconditionally, I immediately knew that they were in good and safe hands.
I thought my heart would break when Leon kept wondering when his mother would come back for them but as Carol shows no signs of getting back on her feet, it is not long before Jake is adopted and Leon is left feeling understandably bereft. When Maureen is suddenly taken ill it is her sister, Sylvia, who steps in to look after Leon. As Leon struggles to fit in to his ever-changing environment he rides his bike to the local allotments and makes some unlikely friends - a strange bunch of people who are all struggling to fit in and find that, in the end, they just might all fit together perfectly like the missing pieces of a jigsaw.
My Name is Leon is a wonderful advert for foster caring; it's a beautiful story that reminds us that 'family' can come in all guises, not just those we are related to by blood. We hear so many horror stories on the news that it is so refreshing to read a heartwarming, lovely story like this. I cried at the beginning, middle and end as Leon's plight is an all too common occurrence. Kit de Waal, in her astonishing debut, has done an amazing job of giving each of her characters a strong and completely unique voice; from Leon's hilarious innocence to Maureen's inexhaustible love. Such varied and unique characters who inevitably managed to set up house and make a little home in my heart.
Written with such breathtaking tenderness, My Name is Leon is an emotional, poignant, heartwarming story filled with innocent humour and, above all, hope.
I received this book from the publisher, Penguin, in exchange for an honest review. show less
Leon is almost 9 years old and already he is acting as a carer for his baby brother, Jake, and his mother, Carol. As it becomes clear that his mother cannot look after Leon and Jake, or even herself, Leon and Jake are taken into care. So they pack their meagre belongings and go to live with show more Maureen, their foster carer. Maureen has fostered lots of children and she welcomes each and every one of them into her home and loves them as if they were her own children. With Maureen opening her heart to Leon and Jake so unconditionally, I immediately knew that they were in good and safe hands.
I thought my heart would break when Leon kept wondering when his mother would come back for them but as Carol shows no signs of getting back on her feet, it is not long before Jake is adopted and Leon is left feeling understandably bereft. When Maureen is suddenly taken ill it is her sister, Sylvia, who steps in to look after Leon. As Leon struggles to fit in to his ever-changing environment he rides his bike to the local allotments and makes some unlikely friends - a strange bunch of people who are all struggling to fit in and find that, in the end, they just might all fit together perfectly like the missing pieces of a jigsaw.
My Name is Leon is a wonderful advert for foster caring; it's a beautiful story that reminds us that 'family' can come in all guises, not just those we are related to by blood. We hear so many horror stories on the news that it is so refreshing to read a heartwarming, lovely story like this. I cried at the beginning, middle and end as Leon's plight is an all too common occurrence. Kit de Waal, in her astonishing debut, has done an amazing job of giving each of her characters a strong and completely unique voice; from Leon's hilarious innocence to Maureen's inexhaustible love. Such varied and unique characters who inevitably managed to set up house and make a little home in my heart.
Written with such breathtaking tenderness, My Name is Leon is an emotional, poignant, heartwarming story filled with innocent humour and, above all, hope.
I received this book from the publisher, Penguin, in exchange for an honest review. show less
This is excellent - and we all know how hard a marker I am when it comes to books. Starting in 1972 in Birmingham, this stetches over the next 20 years. Paulette is an auxillary nurse, working hard, trying to make ends meet and to save up for her perfect life with Denton, who turns out to not be all that perfect,as he has a wife and children across town. Denton's been killed in a car crash and to say that Paulette ends up caring for the grandson of the man who killed the love of her life show more makes this sound highly improbable - and yet, it really isn't. Such acceptance and forgiveness happens slowly, by degrees, and by being gradual, with no big gestures, it feels entirely rational and is not at all sentimental. It's also not exactly a smooth road, there are lumps and bumps along the way. We move through Paulette's life from her late 20s to late 40s. We see her second best relationship with Garfield, Denton's friend and the way she brings up their son, Bird, as a single mother while negotiating Garfield's moving on and his second family. She has such dreadful taste in men that you want to shake her and comiserate with her in equal measure. She has her ups and downs, she has friends that she loses track of as her life twists and turns and yet she remains completely herself.
Paulette is real, I would know her if I met her. She has all the flaws and foibles of a real person. She also has that great heart and really does pour her heart and soul into her son, Bird and his friend Nellie. She gives her best to all of them, and who can ask more of anyone else in this life. I loved Paulette and she is so well constructed that I didn;t want to leave her show less
Paulette is real, I would know her if I met her. She has all the flaws and foibles of a real person. She also has that great heart and really does pour her heart and soul into her son, Bird and his friend Nellie. She gives her best to all of them, and who can ask more of anyone else in this life. I loved Paulette and she is so well constructed that I didn;t want to leave her show less
In 1972, Paulette is an auxiliary nurse, working hard in a Birmingham hospital, saving hard, looking forward to marriage and children with the man she loves, buying a nice house. Then one day, a knock at the door brings her world crashing down, putting a sudden end to her dreams. Her boyfriend Denton's no-good friend Garfield has come to break the bad news - Denton has been killed in a car crash, and no, Paulette can't rush to the hospital, because his wife, kids and mother are there.
She show more drifts into a relationship with Garfield, and they have a son, Bird. He is a loyal, loving dad, but Paulette continues to feel that her life has been snatched away by the drunk driver who apparently caused the crash. Then she meets the man who she thinks ruined her life, Frank, and his grandson Nellie. Frank is still struggling with alcohol and struggling to look after Nellie properly. Paulette is furious with Frank, but can't help wanting to reach out and help Nellie.
Any description makes The Best of Everything sound rather sentimental but somehow Kit De Waal's writing balances anger and sadness with dark humour, and it is a powerful, moving story of unlikely friendships and a different kind of love. show less
She show more drifts into a relationship with Garfield, and they have a son, Bird. He is a loyal, loving dad, but Paulette continues to feel that her life has been snatched away by the drunk driver who apparently caused the crash. Then she meets the man who she thinks ruined her life, Frank, and his grandson Nellie. Frank is still struggling with alcohol and struggling to look after Nellie properly. Paulette is furious with Frank, but can't help wanting to reach out and help Nellie.
Any description makes The Best of Everything sound rather sentimental but somehow Kit De Waal's writing balances anger and sadness with dark humour, and it is a powerful, moving story of unlikely friendships and a different kind of love. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 9
- Also by
- 5
- Members
- 730
- Popularity
- #34,782
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 53
- ISBNs
- 50
- Languages
- 3