In "And When Did You Last See Your Father?", Blake Morrison's mother remains an intriguing but mostly silent figure. One of the many things she never quite told him was that before becoming Kim Morrison she had been Agnes O'Shea. This is her story - and a son's search to uncover the truth.

Painfully honest, unusual, a new kind of memoir, Things My Mother Never Told Me paints an unforgettable portrait of a quiet, determined heroine for our times, but also brilliantly evokes a vivid, surprising picture of life and love in WWII, the obstacles they faced, the way rules were broken by even the nicest of girls, the jealousy of one doctor (his father) who was stuck in army camps far from the front treating syphilis and other everyday horrors. And at the same time an extraordinary anatomy of love and marriage. Against her husband's wishes, Kim went on working as a GP and doctor after the war and for the rest of her life - her one rebellion.