I really enjoy Alan Cumming as an actor and a television personality, so I was a bit nervous about picking up his memoir, Not My Father’s Son. It takes more than being telegenic to write a good book… I have also largely lost interest in reading memoirs about childhood abuse. They tend to be traumatic reads, leaving me miserable and desperate to eject myself from this planet. This one was different. Alan is a very gifted storyteller.

His observations are smart. His memories are visceral. In this story about his childhood and family, he manages to bounce between the past and present, and draw parallels between the two in what feels like real time. As he makes sense of his fraught childhood while investigating an old family secret, he explores the important role that paternal figures (or absence thereof) play in shaping who we become. Part of the memoir takes place in Cape Town during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

His observations made me smile. Unlike many celebrity memoirs, there are no flashy stories about fame, stars or the trappings that come with an affluent, public life. It is raw at times, it is open, it is honest, it is real, and it is a good read.

Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming was published by Canongate Books.