Sarah Pat O'Brien's father walks out of her life when she is seven years old. All that remain are dreams of where he might be and when he will return to rescue the family from the poverty, disease and discrimination they suffer. But he doesn't come back; and with the promise of a better life, they leave Dublin for England, like so many in the 1950s. Years on, when Sarah Pat has children of her own, her shadowy memories drive her to trace her father. A long and painful search reveals he was a soldier, a boxer, a poet - and a bigamist. New life, new wife, new son. Who was the real Patrick O'Brien: philanderer, liar, bully; or loving, sophisticated, indulgent father? Looking through the eyes of a child bewildered and betrayed, Sarah Pat O'Brien tells the story of her quest for her father - and for herself. Beautifully written with searing honesty and lyrical humour, Rooms Of Dust is an exceptional memoir about forging one's own identity from the heartache of the past.