Michael Patrick Murphy was born south of Boston and comes from a family with strong native ties to Boston. He spent ten years getting an education on Morrissey Boulevard—his high school and college years lived out in and around the areas of Dorchester, South Boston, and Boston. Inspired by stories his grandmother told him of the city’s history, and of his great-grandfather, South Boston city councilor Michael Mahoney, Murphy originally wrote the foundation of Neighborhood Lines/Redeem the Lines while in college.

Neighborhood Lines, a timely, heart-felt novel, captures the unique atmosphere of the late 1980s and early 1990s in Boston, when the aftershocks of court-ordered busing to public schools lingered on, integration of the all-White housing projects had begun, and the murder rate had reached record-breaking figures.

Redeem the Lines is the sequel that continues the story of these two young men—Nate and Patrick, who arise out of opposing tough neighborhoods and face many challenges from their current precarious Boston culture in the mid-1990s. The decisions and ramifications of their past create a world of new circumstances that profoundly affect their relationship and the direction of their future. Murphy’s hope in writing the novel is that it be used as a tool to open up dialogues about corruption, race, class, and the common ground that can be achieved by working together to solve conflicts.

Murphy, who owns several businesses in the Boston area, lives on the South Shore with his wife and three children.