APRIL 1995: I stand in my best friend's hallway smiling and crying. It was meant to be a surprise. She's back. I am quietly delighted and feel with her what it must have been like being away for a whole year.

JULY 1995: A classmate has a garden party. My friend and I eventually lock ourselves in the house to go to sleep while the others are secretly smoking outside. We think it's terrible.

JULY 1995: For two six week holidays in a camping van in Greece I feel like the loneliest person in the world. I read an incredible number of books and listen to music for hours on end.

OCTOBER 1995: Because the baby is crying my brother Marc and I go to kindergarten by ourselves for the first time. Now we are three, even though Marc doesn’t want him.

NOVEMBER 1995: Journey to Madagascar. My first immersion in other living conditions changes the way I see the world. I have read the guide books but no one prepares you for the thigh-high holes in the roads, the smell of the market and the enormous eyes of the children.

DECEMBER 1995: After learning that my grandfather has just died the night before, I see my dad crying for the first time.

DECEMBER 1995: I use LSD for the first time with friends on New Year's eve.

DECEMBER 1995: On Christmas Eve Mum and Dad tell us arm in arm that they are going to get together again. I am shocked and can only think that it will all end in disaster.