Set in the industrial heart of England in the 1960s, The Marl Hole Kid tells the story of one boy's struggle to maintain his dignity and compassion growing up in poverty, with a violent, alcoholic, Irish father. A variety of touching, humorous, and outrageous stories illustrate this inspirational journey of survival and the forging of the boy's spirit and character along the way.

Anthony McCandless was born the second of 13 children in 1955 in Tipton, England. The area was known as the Black Country because of the dark clouds of smoke and soot that blanketed the area. With its foundries, factories, and coal-fired power plants linked by a network of industrial canals, the Black Country and its inhabitants were unique and in many ways isolated from the rest of England. It was a tough place to grow up, especially for a boy with a stammer and an abusive father, living right next to the marl hole dump.