Not My Father's Son: A Family Memoir

Dubray Books review:

Neil Gaiman described this book as ‘Equal parts memoir, whodunit and manual for living’ and I couldn’t agree more. The actor Alan Cumming details his life as a young boy growing up in rural Scotland with a father who was not only cold but also occasionally brutal – both mentally and physically. But this is not your average ‘misery memoir’: it is a beautifully written, honest portrayal of Alan’s life and of his amazing family. One of the most interesting characters is his maternal grandfather, Tommy Darling, a young World War Two hero who died in the Far East, years after the war, under suspicious circumstances. While trying to uncover the mystery surrounding this death, Alan receives some shocking news that forces him to question his own sense of family and belonging. His endearing story will make you laugh and cry.
Mairead Gallagher, Dubray Books Grafton St.

I learned something about myself that night. When I get really shocking news, my entire body tries to get the hell away as quickly as possible. The repercussions of this bombshell would reverberate in my life for a long time to come. A beloved star of stage and screen, Alan Cumming's life and career have been shaped by a complex and dark family past - full of troubled memories, kept buried away. But then an unexpected phone call from his long-estranged father brought the pain of the past hurtling back into the present, and unravelled everything he thought he knew about himself. Not My Father's Son is the story of his journey of discovery, both a memoir of his childhood in Scotland, and an investigation into his family history which would change him forever.