When he was just 12 Dennis Meredith wanted to commit suicide.
This is one of the dramatic revelations the boy who grew up to become a councillor reveals in his self published autobiography, My Life The Way You See It.
In it, the Thorplands ward representative speaks openly about his traumatic childhood and how he reached such a low point he felt he could not take any more.
He said: “I had a traumatic time as a young man and I wanted to show with this book there is life after suffering.
“I was born into a working class family in 1942 into what I can only describe as conditions of poverty.” When his family moved to Harlow and he started a new school he was bullied and became depressed.
In his book he also reveals he was beaten by his father who did not believe he was his real son.
Cllr Meredith added: “It is a brutally honest account and writing it brought this traumatic period in my life to an end.” He has lived in Northampton for 31 years and has been a county councillor for four years and sat on the borough council for five years.
He is also secretary of the Southfields Residents’ Association.
He added: “The reason I think I survived was that I was determined.” Cllr Meredith’s book is £6.99 and available from Waterstones in Abington Street, Northampton.
