posted on 25 Sep 2022

A Pair of Jesus-Boots by Sylvia Sherry

Children’s author, Sylvia Sherry was born in 1932 and published nine novels. A Pair of Jesus-Boots (1969) is her best known book amongst people of a certain vintage - possibly because it was made into a BBC children’s serial in 1976 called Rocky O’Rourke (named after the teenager who is the central character) and inspired four further additions to a series featuring this character.

You might be tempted to think that teenagers, poverty, gangs and crime are a particular problem of modern times but this gritty young adult novel set in Liverpool sets that record straight - these are problems that have been with us for many years. 

Rocky lives at home in virtually slum conditions with his mother and troubled, younger step-sister. The poverty is stark. The family are so poor that Rocky has no substantial shoes - he has to wear sandals, the Jesus-boots of the title, that are open to the weather and have a hole in the sole stopped up with newspaper. However, Rocky aspires to be something of a tough-guy and would-be minor criminal and heads a small gang of his own known as The Cats who spend much of their time in competition with another gang of older teenagers known as Chick’s Lot.

Rocky hero-worships his older brother, Joey, who is doing time for some minor crimes and who is due to be released within days. He’s determined to prove that he is following in his brother’s footsteps by ‘doing a job’ that will establish him and his gang as a force to be reckoned with but so far they haven’t been able to do much more than break into an already empty building.

When Rocky and another member of the gang, Nabber, finally do commit a real crime it has plenty of unintended consequences. They try a little housebreaking and steal a transistor radio from the kitchen of an elderly woman called Mrs Abercrombie, a neighbour. But the initial triumph soon palls and Rocky discovers he has a conscience when his new friend, the one-armed caretaker and ex-professional footballer points out that he’s stealing from people as poor as he is. So he resolves to return the transistor only to find himself becoming Mrs Abercrombie’s unofficial carer as the old woman’s health rapidly deteriorates.

To add to Rocky’s concerns he’s also discovered that a real London gangster, Jim Simpson is out to do damage to his brother Joey as soon as he’s released from prison. Rocky imagines his brave older brother will be able to deal easily with Simpson but he soon discovers that the reality is quite different. The young boy has to slowly come to terms with some truths about his brother and in doing so he’ll have cause to be thankful for his Jesus-boots that will be a life-saver when things turn nasty.

Sherry manages to be upbeat without being sentimental or patronising about young people caught in poverty and the jeopardy is real. She presents us with plenty of real-life issues without offering simple solutions: Rocky’s step-sister is clearly emotionally disturbed, the men of the house come and go, crime is endemic and this brings with it bigger issues like drugs and gangsters. Poverty is the real criminal here. 

Older Puffin paperbacks of the book are available on secondhand sites for under £10 but hardbacks are rarer and a lot more expensive.

 

 

Terry Potter

September 2020