A Child of the.Jago' is both thriller and condemnation of social conditions in the East End slums at the turn of the century. Boy hero Dicky Perrott is at heart full of humane instinct but his environment ensures his down fall. "It was my fate to encounter a place in Shoreditch where children were born and reared in circumstances which gave them no reasonable chance of living decent lives: where they were born fore-damned to a criminal or semi criminal career. It was my experience to learn the ways of this place, to know its inhabitants, to talk with them, eat, drink and work with them." Arthur Morrison The author, who rejected the label 'realist', doesn't minimise the violence of the community and 'A Child of the Jago' is an exciting tale indeed.
