Joe Dunthorne’s great-grandfather, Siegfried, was a legendary figure in his family’s history: a Jewish refugee who daringly returned to Nazi Germany during the Berlin Olympics to stage a heist on his own home, and the eccentric inventor of radioactive toothpaste. But when the Submarine author became the first descendant to read Siegfried’s unpublished memoir, he uncovered a story far more complex than he had imagined. As he explores the life of a ‘jolly grandpa’ with an encyclopaedic knowledge of poison gases and a turbulent psychiatric history, Joe wrestles with difficult questions about inheritance, identity, and legacy. In conversation with When Time Stopped author Ariana Neumann, he reflects on this surprising, witty, and deeply humane exploration of family truths.
An event from Jewish Book Week 2025.
