Raw and honest, evocative and insightful. Flesh and Blood: A History of My Family in Seven Sicknesses by Stephen McGann is at turns confronting, sad, hopeful, and thought-provoking. Cultural, social, and medical concepts and history are threaded with personal ‘testimony’ to provide invaluable context, and weave the lives of ancestors past to present.

Divided into seven chapters, the emphasis moves from hunger in the Irish famine, through the disease of poverty-stricken families, and on to stories including that of a survivor of the Titanic, soldiers experiencing PTSD, and connections of the heart.

Stephen McGann might be well-known as an actor (including playing Dr Turner in Call the Midwife), but with this book he shows his skills in storytelling, passion for family history, and understanding of the human condition. He also clearly demonstrates what he learned from qualifications in science communication, explaining concepts in a way that’s easy to understand. You don’t need to be a genealogist to appreciate this unique approach to telling an extended family’s story. Highly recommended.