Peter Papathanasiou is the son of migrants and the grandson of refugees. His parents emigrated from Greece to Australia in 1956 but were unable to have children, a huge sorrow (and shame) for them amongst Australia's Greek community and their own family. Finally, in 1973, Peter's mother's brother and sister-in-law in Greece offered to have another baby and give it to her to bring up as her own in Australia. Peter was that baby, born in 1974 and given up by his biological parents so that a childless sister could become a mother.
Peter grew up an only child in Australia, and only discovered his true parentage in 1999, when his mother revealed the family secret to him. By then Peter's birth mother had died, but he found he had two older brothers still living in the small village in northern Greece his mother had emigrated from. This is where the story begins, with Peter's mother sitting him down to tell him about his birth and the sacrifice that lay behind it.
What follows is a wonderful, moving and compelling memoir as Peter traces his parents' journey to Australia, their struggle as migrants, and the very different world that they came from - a world where the bond of family was so strong a husband and wife are prepared to do something extraordinary for their sibling. Peter's own career as a geneticist is a fascinating backdrop to his investigations into his own family.
