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Flesh and Blood

A History of My Family in Seven Maladies

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Flesh and Blood

By: Stephen McGann
Narrated by: Stephen McGann
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About this listen

 Stephen McGann is Doctor Turner in the BBC hit-drama series Call the Midwife. His family survived famine-ravaged Ireland in the 1850s. His ancestors settled in poverty-rife Victorian Liverpool, working to survive and thrive. Some of them became soldiers serving on the Western Front. One would be the last man to step off the SS Titanic as it sank beneath the icy waves. He would testify at the inquest. This is their story.

Flesh and Blood is the story of the McGann family as told through seven maladies – diseases, wounds or ailments that have afflicted Stephen’s relatives over the last century and a half, and which have helped mould him into what he now perceives himself to be. It’s the story of how health, or the lack of it, fuels our collective will and informs our personal narrative. Health is the motivational antagonist in the drama of our life story – circumscribing the extent of our actions, the quality of our character and the breadth of our ambition. Our maladies are the scribes that write the restless and mutating genome of our self-identity.

Flesh and Blood combines McGann’s passion for genealogy with an academic interest in the social dimensions of medicine – and fuses these with a lifelong exploration of drama as a way to understand what motivates human beings to do the things they do. He looks back at scenes from his own life that were moulded by medical malady, and traces the crooked roots of each affliction through the lives of his ancestors, whose grim maladies punctuate the public documents or military records of his family tree. In this way he asks a simple, searching question: how have these maladies helped to shape the story of the person he is today? Hear Stephen’s incredible story told in his own words in this magnificent unabridged audiobook.
©2017 Stephen McGann (P)2017 Simon & Schuster UK Inspiring Heartfelt Thought-Provoking

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My first audio book and I loved and will buy the printed version too as I prefer to read rather than listen

Truthful and thought provoking

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Deftly and compassionately narrated by Stephen McGann, this book charts his life and family history through a medical lens. Far from being clinical, it is the story of how medicine has shaped generations, and is in some ways a love letter to the NHS. As with any great love story, however, its flaws and failings are examined as candidly as its greatest successes.

As a fellow genealogist, I have often charted my own impact upon the world according to certificates signed or witnessed, and imagined how much future generations might be able to infer from the information they contain. Stephen articulated this sentiment beautifully.

I did find the last couple of chapters a little uncomfortable to listen to, as both of the main medical maladies he described his wife's intimacy with are equally familiar to me. He handled the subject delicately but honestly, though, and their gratitude was evident throughout.

Stephen McGann's voice was as engaging as his brother Pauls has proven to be in his work with Big Finish Productions, and he is a narrator I would gladly listen to again.

A medical memoir with a difference

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The different chapters relate to Stephen's family but told in a way that included their illnesses and anxieties and how illness affects our lives . The chapter about his mother was my favourite but his father 's story was heartbreaking , as for his wife's illness , it's heartbreaking and his description of it was both shocking and scary ...the book is a wholly different way of telling a story and it kept me up all night listening to it . Wonderful book .

Very different

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Love the narration. I have a lot in common with the Irish and Merseyside history.

Loved it.

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Never heard of the author or his theatrical family before, but I did hear him describing his book on the radio which tempted me to get the audiobook. He has put together a pretty good book which he reads excellently. It’s a bit slow at times, especially when describing medically the various maladies, but mostly it is very entertaining. The author revels a tad too much in his own glory as an actor for my taste, but I guess to be fair he is primarily doing so to contrast his professional success and social acceptance with the ghastly situation his Irish immigrant ancestors faced in the mid nineteenth century. Has a major dig at one of his brothers which not sure was necessary to the story or whether I’d have included in a public book myself. Overall its faults are minor, it’s pretty good listen, and I recommend the book.

Interesting listen, unique concept well delivered.

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This is such a beautiful way to tell a family history. From the very beginning I was captivated by the descriptions of maladies intertwined with the stories of family life over a century and a half. There were intensely moving moments where tears streamed down my face, along with informative aspects of medical developments. Being just one year older than Stephen with a family history connected to Liverpool’s lower classes for nigh on 3 centuries I’m finding myself inspired to find out more than the data on a page. Thank you Stephen.

Moving, captivating, and a great listen

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Stephen McGann has been pleasant to me on Twitter and we have a mutual friend so I was curious enough to read this book. It’s an engaging listen and as heartfelt as you’d expect. There is social history, personal autobiography, scientific expertise and a great deal more. If it has a fault then it’s in attempting too much; McGann could write an excellent social history but then we’re diverted into the personal stuff or the professional; he speaks about science and writes about it with authority but other than a casual reference to his masters degree right at the end we never find out where that authority came from.

It’s a terrific listen and I’d recommend it. I just think there were two or three more focused books in here - and McGann could write them all, equally well.

An excellent listen that may attempt too much

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This is a wonderful listen as you’re taken through the generations of Stephen McGann’s family, their work, how and where they lived, and how a particular illness or other medical event had a huge impact on their lives. McGann has a masters degree in science communication and those skills have enabled him to describe the illnesses and other medical issues mentioned in a way which communicates detail and accuracy whilst still maintaining the narrative of the story he is telling about his relative. Overall well worth a listen and definitely a book I will be recommending to others and I’m sure will come back to again in the future.

A fascinating combination of genealogy and medical history

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In most autobiographies there is subtext to provide a little extra insight into the author’s being. In Flesh and Blood, Stephen McGann has elevated the value of the subtext to that of the main story. Clarification of historical events, along with social and medical conditions, serve to ensure that the reader has a full understanding who Stephen McGann is, rather than just what work he has done and how many famous people he knows.

This is thoughtfully written and excellently narrated. Flesh and Blood is a most refreshing read and much more than an autobiography.

Not the “run of the mill” autobiography!

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Loved it really interesting and very informative and loved hearing about Stephen's Irish heritage

Flesh and Blood

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