This is not a celebrity tell-all. You won't find any graphic sex scenes or lurid details of secret affairs. Alan's sexuality isn't the subject of this memoir. This is about a child, and the man he grew up to be healing from his experiences. It's about surviving.
If you lived your childhood in fear, you need to read this book. Alan puts into words the feelings many adult survivors of childhood abuse struggle to identify.
Traumatic childhood memories are intermixed with the filming of an episode about Alan for the BBC series 'Who Do You Think You Are?'. The story, and the actual program, are fascinating. There's a third thread woven in there and it's a great big, thick, red one. I won't reveal it here, but it ups the ante certainly.
This story touched me. I went to Alan Cumming's website and watched the episode of Who Do You Think You Are? after. I don't recommend watching it prior to reading the book. Watching the tv program doesn't reveal what Alan was going through at that time, but it is so surreal watching it after reading his story. I kept looking for signs of all that he was dealing with during the filming. It's incredible to imagine all the pressure that he was under at that time.
Link to Who Do You Think You Are? episode
I've heard good things about the audiobook. I love his voice, and he's a terrific narrator, so you can't go wrong there.
5 stars - a short but powerful and empowering read.
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