Tom McGrath – författare

‘A triumph of family story-telling’ Hugo Hamilton, author of The Pages.A tale of three journeys, the final one a successful pursuit of shadows’ Myles DunganGrowing up in Waterford, Tom McGrath never noticed the odd gaps in the stories of his parents’ lives before he was born; it was only many years after they died that he uncovered the unspoken truths, which did so much to explain the people they had been.Here he tells the incredible true story of his father’s conscription into the British Army, his escape from a prisoner-of-war camp in Poland, his daring journey across Europe and subsequent recapture – and the devastating news that awaited him in England. Tom’s research also led him to discover that his mother also carried a heartbreaking secret.In writing this book Tom not only recreated his father’s nail-biting escape but also embarked on a journey of his own to reconnect with previously unknown family members. Unspoken pieces together an extraordinarily rare tale that encompasses memoir, family history, and two parallel stories that were almost lost for ever.

Growing up in Waterford, Tom McGrath never noticed the odd gaps in the stories of his parents'' lives before he was born; it was only many years after they died that he uncovered the unspoken truths, which did so much to explain the people they had been.Here he tells the incredible true story of his father''s conscription into the British Army, his escape from a prisoner-of-war camp in Poland, his daring journey across Europe and subsequent recapture – and the devastating news that awaited him in England. Tom''s research also led him to discover that his mother also carried a heartbreaking secret.In writing this book Tom not only recreated his father''s nail-biting escape but also embarked on a journey of his own to reconnect with previously unknown family members in order to piece together an extraordinarily rare tale that encompasses memoir, family history, and the parallel stories, which were almost lost for ever, of his parents'' lives of desperate hardship.

Tom McGrath, der berühmte schottische Dramatiker, hat dem größten Komikerpaar der Filmgeschichte mit diesem Stück ein heiter-melancholisches Denkmal gesetzt. So treffen sich Stan Laurel und Oliver Hardy nach ihrem Tod in einer Vorhölle, in der sie noch einmal die Höhepunkte ihrer Karriere durchleben. In einem musikalisch-komödiantischen Bilderbogen - von den Anfängen der beiden in den Music Halls, den großen Erfolgen unter dem Produzenten Hal Roach bis zum bitteren Ende in Frankreich - lässt Tom McGrath den dünnen Stan und seinen dicken Freund Ollie auferstehen und erzählt aus deren Biographien, indem er den Lebensstationen kleine Ausschnitte aus den Filmen beimischt. Auf diese Weise entsteht das Doppelporträt eines Künstlerpaares, das uns bis heute durch Situationskomik und Dialogwitz bewegt und die Tränen in die Augen treiben kann.