Leon McAvoy from Haverhill publishes 'A boy from the Valleys'

Leon McAvoy’s book called 'A boy from the Valleys' covers the journey of a small boy from Cardiff, George Alfred Watkins, and a Suffolk girl, Florence, who made their way home.

Mr McAvoy says he primarily wrote 'A boy from the Valleys' for his mother, who had long been intrigued by her parents’ history.

The 57-year-old author, who spent two-years researching his ancestors, said: “My book is about the love between my grandparents.

“My grandmother hailed from Aldeburgh on Suffolk coast. By the time she was 14 years old, she got a job as a scullery maid in a large house in London.

“She went to work for a religious gentleman, a man of the cloth who raped her. The lady of the house couldn't have a pregnant girl in her house so they sent my grandmother to the workhouse.

“My grandfather, who at the age of 6 was sent to an orphanage in Cardiff and later sailed all over the world, met my grandmother under the docks of London and when he found out she was pregnant, he broke her out of the workhouse.

“He walked her from London to Norwich, where they set up home and had 13 children.”

Florence and George, Leon's grandparents (Image: Supplied)

Mr McAvoy, who now lives in Haverhill, said that his book helped his mum to remember some facts from her life.

He added: “My mother grew up all of her life, not knowing whether her mother and father were married.

“I was able to find the actual marriage certificate, and they were married in December 1959. I told my mother and her response was ‘I was 13 then so, where was I?’."

Mr McAvoy describes his book as “an uplifting story of human resilience”.

He added: “It’s a story about two people who just made their way through life, gave everything and brought up 13 children.

“They lost two children later and ended up with 11. There were tragedies along the way, but it's actually a humorous story.”

The cover of the book called A boy from the Valleys (Image: Supplied)

The author said the period of writing the book was not easy for him, as he was homeless.

He added: “I was sleeping in the back of a van. When I look at people who live on the street, I don’t know how they are able to sleep on tarmac and concrete.

“I was lucky I had the luxury of a van where I wrote the majority of my book.”

Mr McAvoy is aware of neurodiversity among his readers and prepared the first 100 copies of his book to be in a dyslexia-friendly format.

A boy from the Valleys can be purchased from LGM Publishing website and soon from Amazon.