Toto Among the Murderers: Winner of the Portico Prize 2022

In 1973, Jude, a young woman with a chaotic and wild personality, moves into a house in Leeds. She is a restless soul who hitchhikes across the country, drinks too much, and gets stoned. Her best friend, Nel, is the only steady influence in her life, but Nel's life is not as perfect as it seems. Reports of attacks on women punctuate the news, and Jude takes off again, suffocated by an affair with a married woman. However, the violence is moving ever closer to home, with Janice across the road living in fear of being beaten up again by her pimp and Nel's perfect life coming undone at her boyfriend's hands. At the same time, infamous murderers, Fred and Rosemary West, are stalking the country, looking for girls like Jude.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 23 June 2022
Publisher: John Murray Press

In 1973, Jude, known as Toto, graduates from art school and moves into a house in a run-down part of Leeds. She is a chaotic, wild child who flirts with the wrong people, drinks too much, and gets stoned too often. Her restlessness takes her on hitchhiking jaunts up and down the country. Her best friend, Nel, is the only steady influence Jude has, but Nel's life is not as perfect as it seems. Reports of attacks on women punctuate the news, and Jude takes off again, suffocated by an affair she has been having with a married woman. However, she doesn't realize that the violence is moving ever closer to home: Janice, across the road, lives in fear of being beaten up again by her pimp, and Nel's perfect life is coming undone at her boyfriend's hands. At the same time, infamous murderers, Fred and Rosemary West, are stalking the country, looking for girls like Jude.

In 1973, Jude, known as Toto, graduates from art school and moves into a house in a run-down part of Leeds. She is a chaotic, wild child who flirts with the wrong people, drinks too much, and gets stoned too often. Her restlessness takes her on hitchhiking jaunts up and down the country. Her best friend, Nel, is the only steady influence Jude has, but Nel's life is not as perfect as it seems. Reports of attacks on women punctuate the news, and Jude takes off again, suffocated by an affair she has been having with a married woman. However, she doesn't realize that the violence is moving ever closer to home: Janice, across the road, lives in fear of being beaten up again by her pimp, and Nel's perfect life is coming undone at her boyfriend's hands. At the same time, infamous murderers, Fred and Rosemary West, are stalking the country, looking for girls like Jude.

Weight: 250g
Dimension: 131 x 197 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781399804004