That was truth and this is fiction: and the fiction is more almost terrifyingly vivid than the fact. To make mention only of one part of the book the 'night out' in Trafalgar Square is quite unforgettable.
"A genuine human document which at the same time is written with so much simple force that in spite of the squalor and degradation thus unfolded the result is curiously beautiful with 'the beauty of an accomplished etching on copper."
Compton Mackenzie (Daily Mail)