Discover the Penguin books that shaped us

Family Secrets

byDeborah Cohen

The Things We Tried to Hide

Format:

PaperbackEbook

Buy the book from:

AmazonOpens in a new tabApple BooksOpens in a new tabebooks.comOpens in a new tabGoogle PlayOpens in a new tabHiveOpens in a new tabKoboOpens in a new tab
Journeying from the empire's beginnings, where the hidden escapades of the British abroad haunted generations of descendants, to today's very public confessional culture, Deborah Cohen explores the difficult personal choices made to protect a family's good name. Whether concealing an adopted child's origins, taking a disabled son to a party, or not recognising a gay uncle's existence, Family Secrets excavates the tangled history of privacy and secrecy to show how we live with our shame, both publicly and in our hearts.

A well-researched, timely and absorbing book, it challenges many of our prejudices about how our immediate ancestors thought, and invites us to enquire more closely into how and when and why families keep secrets and guard their privacy.

Hilary Mantel

About Deborah Cohen

Born into a family with its own fair share of secrets, Deborah Cohen was raised in Kentucky and educated at Harvard and Berkeley.She teaches at Northwestern University, where she holds the Peter B. Ritzma Professorship of the Humanities.Her last book was the award-winning Household Gods, a history of the British love-affair with the home.
Details
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • ISBN: 9780141959573
  • Length: 400 pages
  • Price: £2.99
All editions