Cirrus@Austlit

Born into a neighbourhood of thieves and rogues, young Jacques' mother died giving birth to him, his father abandoned him, and it was only through the attentions of a wily old, alcoholic, beggar-woman that he survived. When Jacques was still a young boy, the old woman died and though he was taken in by the authorities, he fled to return to the sordid life that was all he'd ever known. Inevitably, as Jacques grew, prison became his home until the outbreak of war in 1914 offered him the opportunity to prove his real worth.