By Grayson Perry and Wendy Jones

(Chatto & Windus £15.99)  

The Wivenhoe Bookshop has invited the author Wendy Jones to come to the bookshop on Saturday 25 February to talk about her friendship with the Turner Prize winning artist Grayson Perry and to sign copies of the book about his childhood in Chelmsford and his youth. 

It is Grayson’s own story caught on tape by his friend and transcribed into this delightful and moving book. 

Early childhood in Essex is a rural Eden that ends abruptly with the arrival of the man who became his stepfather, leading to a constant swerving between his parents’ houses, and between boys’ clothes and women’s clothes. 

But as Grayson enters art college, and discovers the world of London squats and New Romanticism, he starts to find himself. At last, in his early twenties, he steps out as a potter and transvestite. Direct and down to earth, stuffed with imagination and wit, with illustrations of Grayson’s own work, this is both a mesmerising read and a lifeline for all young boys who hug their dreams to themselves.