About the book: 1959 / With the gallantry inherent in everything he did, Mervyn Selkirk said to Norda Ellison: - I beg your pardon... Then he leaned down and forcefully hit the child's cheek. “Young gentlemen,” he said to his seven-year-old son, “should not interrupt adults when they are talking.” Then Mervyn Selkirk leaned back in his chair again, lit a cigarette and, turning to Norda Allison, said: “Since you said?..But Norda Allison was unable to continue the conversation. She couldn’t take her eyes off the child’s offended eyes and suddenly realized that this was not the first time... Trying to hold back tears, “like a big one,” the offended boy hesitated at the door, muttered: “Sorry...” and left..