"Written by his son, this gripping account of Peter Bessell’s extraordinary life teems with personal intrigue against a backdrop of political corruption, lies and international spies."
Demonstrating that close scrutiny of the political sphere often reveals truths that are far more outlandish than fiction, Paul Bessell’s Finding Dad presents the author’s riveting account of his father, the notoriety-embroiled Liberal Party MP Peter Bessell who testified against his close friend Jeremy Thorpe in the “trial of the century”, and was accused of being a secret advisor to the US government.
Indeed, the author notes that his investigation led him to conclude that the true story of his father’s life “is indeed stranger than fiction”, beginning with the moment his 77-year-old mother revealed the time she’d discovered the “picture of a beautiful young woman” in his father’s briefcase.
When confronted by this, Peter Bessell had simply told his wife, “It’s someone we have to get rid of”. During this same exchange, the author’s mother also revealed that “Jeremy Thorpe once told me Daddy had killed someone”. As a result, the author was driven to “make sense of my father’s life”.
Covering Peter Bessell’s lifelong philandering and early political life in 1960s Cornwall, when he mentioned his “secret government work” to his son, then a 17-year-old “full-blown hippy”, through to his transatlantic entrepreneurship, and twilight years in California, where he became involved in ocean erosion activism, the book reveals a tangled web of compelling contradictions through the cut-throat worlds of government, intelligence and business. Written with all the cleverly-paced flair of a spy thriller, Finding Dad is unflinchingly honest and utterly intriguing. It’s nigh impossible to not become wrapped up in a true story that often left the author wishing he “hadn’t started the journey”.
Devoted father, husband and politician... or spy, con man, liar and murderer?
| Primary Genre | Biographies & Autobiographies |
| Other Genres: |
Devoted father, husband and politician... or spy, con man, liar and murderer? WHO WAS PETER BESSELL?
Finding Dad features in the following genres: Biographies & Autobiographies, Biography, Literature and Literary studies, Biography: general, Biography: social media, Politics and government
Paperback. £9.89, down from the £10.99 cover price. In Stock.
Finding Dad was written by Paul Bessel and published by Mirror Books
Finding Dad has 288 pages
£9.89, reduced from £10.99. In Stock.
