The Left and the Lucky by Willy Vlautin

Eddie Wilkens runs his own house-painting business. Forty-something and living alone, he just wants to take life one day at a time. When his eight-year-old neighbour, Russell, starts hanging around, Eddie sees that this small kid - with his single mother working nights and his violent older brother - is struggling to keep his head above water, and so tries to help. Equal parts heart wrenching and uplifting, 'The Left and the Lucky' is a portrait of this unusual friendship - the ways hurt shatters people and the compassionate acts that can, maybe, hold some of those pieces together.