42 Days

“That was my boy. He may not have looked like a regular baby, but he was my baby – our baby. Ellie and Sam’s little brother. My mum and dad’s third grandchild, and Judith and Bernard’s eighth. The newest baby in the hospital. Probably technically the youngest baby in England at that moment. He was the future Chelsea number 9; Ashes-winning all-rounder; Prime Minister; and in twenty years he would be the biggest rock star the world had ever seen. We had a 1lb 8oz baby who had already stuck his fingers up to the medical world. Defying logic and arguing the toss about his right to be alive – that’s my boy.” Do you remember what the weather was like over the Golden Jubilee weekend of 2002? Do you remember what went to Number 1 in the charts on the Sunday afternoon? Do you remember the score between England and Sweden in their World Cup football match? Do you know what weighs only one pound and eight ounces? Rob does, he remembers all of them very well. 1. Lovely and sunny 2. Eminem with ‘Without Me’ 3. 1-1 (Campbell ’24: Alexanderson ’59) 4. A baby boy born at 27 weeks 42 Days is the often funny, sometimes touching, undeniably heartbreaking and ultimately redemptive story of a recovering cynic as he narrates the story of his son’s life – from birth through to adulthood – in just 42 days. It’s the most honest book about fatherhood, marriage and death you’re ever going to read – brutal, funny, heartbreaking, inspiring, bleak and uplifting – all in the space of 6 weeks, taking place in the summer of 2002.