NOT MY FATHER’S SON
ALEXANDER McQUEEN: BLOOD BENEATH THE SKIN ANDREW WILSON
Simon & Schuster £25 Biography A fascinating, well-researched and absorbing portrait of the late visionary fashion designer, known to his family and friends as Lee, who committed suicide in February 2010, the day before his mother’s funeral and not so long after the death of his muse Isabella Blow, who is also profiled in these pages. This, however, is not the flatteringly styled portrait of a creative genius, but gets to the dirt and despair beneath the couture, unafraid of the realities it finds there, and Andrew Wilson – along with the McQueen Family who lent him their full support writing and researching this book – deserves applause for this. Blood Beneath the Skin is an ultimately tragic tale of brilliance and darkness, abuse – both substance and sexual – and egotism confounded by insecurity, told with poise, insight and compassion.
THE TWO HOTEL FRANCFORTS
DAVID LEAVITT Bloomsbury £8.99 Fiction Set in 1940 as Europe descends into war, Lisbon is the only remaining neutral port where refugees, who can afford to, have clamoured, desperate for safe passage out in one of the tightly controlled passenger ships back to America. Two couples waiting for the S. S. Manhattan to dock meet, seemingly by chance. Pete and Julia Winters and Edward and Iris Freleng discover they are both staying in one of two hotels in the city named The Francfort. It is not long before the two men are drawn to each other and begin a risky affair.
This is an elegant and atmospheric literary novel charged with tensions and secrets just waiting to erupt, resulting in life-changing consequences. In one or two places it feels like the author cannot resist the impulse to let you know just how self-consciously clever he is. Perhaps he should. The vast majority of this sumptuously told and transportive story is, however, brilliantly crafted.
ALAN CUMMING
Canongate £8.99 Autobiography This captivating and heart-stopping autobiography arose from a period in mid-2010 when the Cabaret and The Good Wife actor agreed to participate in the family genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? While the programme focused on a mystery surrounding the death of Alan’s maternal grandfather in Malaysia, greater and more immediate revelations were to arise when Alan’s estranged and abusive father got in touch with the bombshell that they were not, in fact, related. We are then subjected to flashbacks of Alan’s childhood in Scotland and scenes of horrific physical, emotional and psychological abuse at the hands of this domineering, vile man, whose main motivation seemed to be stamping down on his family’s happiness. Alan, along with Tom, whom he grew up calling his brother, complete a DNA test to verify these claims. Gripping, well-composed and moving, this memoir is impossible to put down and remains with you well beyond the last page.
THE DISAPPEARANCE BOY NEIL BARTLETT
Bloomsbury £8.99 Fiction An orphan left with a limp from childhood Polio, Reggie Rainbow is a young man who knows when to keep his head down and not attract too much attention. Working behind the scenes in a magic act with the handsome illusionist Mr. Brookes and a series of glamorous but mistreated assistants suits Reggie well, for he is the disappearance boy: the figure in the magic act that the audience never sees. Neil Bartlett is a poised and innovative writer who brings an immense talent for rich, believably rounded characterization into his novels from his love of theatre: Pamela Rose in particular is a brilliant, near instantly classic character creation. An intimately told tale of seduction, longing and misdirection set in the faded glamour of 1950s Brighton variety theatres. Gripping, beautiful and heartwarming, Bartlett’s novels are seductive story-telling at its best.