From the bush of Baradine to the corridors of Canberra, this is Craig Emerson’s story of triumph over adversity.

In the mid-1960s, in the small town of Baradine in north-western New South Wales, the Emerson family was in continual crisis. The mother suffered from deep depression, and the father was exhausted by their constant fights. The two sons—Craig and Lance—were traumatized by their mother’s mental struggles and inexplicable outbursts of violence against them.

Yet both parents worked hard for meager wages to give Craig a good education, and he vindicated their sacrifice. After gaining a PhD in economics, he was invited to join Bob Hawke’s staff to help design and implement the Labor government’s economic and environmental program. Craig became like a son to the prime minister; he and Bob worked hard, but also relished time out for betting, joking, and singing.

During Craig’s own roller-coaster journey as a politician, factional power-brokers exiled him to the backbench, but his perseverance and abilities earned him the honor of becoming Australia’s minister for trade and higher education.

The Boy from Baradine is an unusually honest ex-politician’s memoir. It is a deeply human tale of trauma and triumph, of fear and fun, which will inspire young people to succeed even from the most unlikely of personal circumstances.