A gripping journey into the twisting moral maze of the twentieth century - a journey to uncover a radioactive family secret
'The best book I've read in the past year . . . A masterpiece' Financial Times
Joe Dunthorne never met his great-grandfather Siegfried: an eccentric Jewish scientist who escaped Nazi Berlin in the 1930s and snuck back under cover of night to rescue the family heirlooms. Decades later, Siegfried wrote about his adventures in a memoir so long and rambling that almost no one ever managed to read it. Decades after that, his great-grandson Joe unearthed the dusty manuscript and got a nasty surprise. Because hidden on page 1,692 of the unreadable memoir was a shocking confession . . .
'A voyage into the heart of twentieth-century darkness [...] narrated with the twists and turns of a detective story' Observer
SHORTLISTED FOR WALES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2026
| ISBN: | 9780241517475 |
| Publication date: | 2nd April 2026 |
| Author: | Joe Dunthorne |
| Publisher: | Penguin Books an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 220 pages |
| Genres: |
Memoirs Second World War Refugees and political asylum Violence, intolerance and persecution in history Biography: historical, political and military |
A gripping journey into the twisting moral maze of the twentieth century - a journey to uncover a radioactive family secret
'The best book I've read in the past year . . . A masterpiece' Financial Times
Joe Dunthorne never met his great-grandfather Siegfried: an eccentric Jewish scientist who escaped Nazi Berlin in the 1930s and snuck back under cover of night to rescue the family heirlooms. Decades later, Siegfried wrote about his adventures in a memoir so long and rambling that almost no one ever managed to read it. Decades after that, his great-grandson Joe unearthed the dusty manuscript and got a nasty surprise. Because hidden on page 1,692 of the unreadable memoir was a shocking confession . . .
'A voyage into the heart of twentieth-century darkness [...] narrated with the twists and turns of a detective story' Observer
SHORTLISTED FOR WALES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2026
Children of Radium features in the following genres: Memoirs, Second World War, Refugees and political asylum, Violence, intolerance and persecution in history, Biography: historical, political and military
Children of Radium is available in Paperback, Hardback
Children of Radium was written by Joe Dunthorne and published by Penguin Books an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd
Children of Radium has 220 pages
£10.79