The story of a father accused of child abuse, seen through the eyes of his six-year-old son.

A boy runs across a busy road.
His father catches him and smacks him.
A passer-by looks on.

This is what happens next.

"Gripping, hilarious and tender, this is, without doubt, one of the books of the year" - Daily Mail

"The novel brilliantly captures parent-child relations in the raw and the emotions that even the most experienced social worker can't tame" - Independent

"An amusing and unsettling story" - Saturday Guardian

"This is family life at its most believable: warm and messy, bored and raging. WHAT I DID is every parent's nightmare, but will make you burst out laughing too. I loved it." - Emma Donoghue, author of ROOM

"I loved it! Staggeringly good. Terrifyingly good" - Lisa Jewell

"Hugely impressive, gripping, funny and thought provoking" - Emily Barr

"Excellent . . . Dark but uplifting" - Alex Preston

"[A] fine, challenging novel" - Mail on Sunday