Daddy was a German Spy

Book excerpt: This engaging memoir covers the first 25 years of Brian Edward's life in Northern Ireland during the 1940s and 1950s. His father abandoned his wife and son in dramatic circumstances when Brian was still a baby. He grew up in 'lodgings', often cared for by landladies who were mad, bad or simply sad, while his mother was at work. In his early teens Brian desperately tried to track down his mysterious father but to no avail. Years later he discovered that he had at least one half-sister and that his father may well have been a German spy, a bigamist and a charming con-man who embezzled funds from numerous employers. While Brian's relationship with his parents and their extended families lies at the heart of this book, Daddy was a German Spy is also a funny, poignant and intriguing story about growing up in Northern Ireland.