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Not My Father's Son: A Family Memoir

Alan Cumming

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'One of the most memorable, heart-stopping autobiographies I have ever read' STEPHEN FRY WINNER OF...

ClareR (6134 KP) rated Not Speaking in Books

Jun 14, 2019

Not Speaking

Norma Clarke | 2019 | Biography

9.0

(1 Ratings)

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Another great book chosen by The Pigeonhole (seriously, this app is ridiculously addictive). Norma Clarke tells us the story of her family. She grew up in the East End of London, the second eldest of six siblings, in a tiny flat. Her mother and father met in Greece at the end of the Second World War, and Rena came back to England after marrying Bill in Greece, and being able to speak very little English. It must have been really difficult for her.

There’s more to this than a family history though. Norma takes us through some of the social history of East London, Greek mythology (which explains some of her mother’s mindset, I think), and links some of he places she visits to her favourite authors.

It’s just such an interesting book. I wanted to know what happened to all of these people, why they weren’t speaking for one thing! It was truly a delight to read. She writes so descriptively: one minute you can’t believe that her mother can be so blunt and seemingly unfeeling (and therefore I rather disliked her for it), and the next minute, you realise she is as she is, and feel empathy for her. And during all of this, there is the rest of the family. They have their disagreements, yes, but ultimately they are family and they’re always there for one another when they are needed.

I really enjoyed this book. Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, and to Norma Clarke for reading along with us and answering questions.