My Family and Other Rock Stars

A Book of the Year for The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, and the Daily Mail, Tiffany Murray's My Family and Other Rock Stars is a gloriously tender and funny memoir that offers a truly unique glimpse into an extraordinary childhood. The Sunday Times, as their Book of the Week, aptly describes it as a "bohemian rhapsody of her very own," while the Daily Mail, also naming it Book of the Week, finds it "magical . . . as scrumptious as the home-made mayonnaise, pumpkin soup and game pie coming out of Joan's kitchen." Sarah Winman hails it as "A love letter to a remarkable childhood," and Sèamas O'Reilly praises its "pop gossip that'll leave you starry-eyed, and written with a warmth and precision you'll want to savour for as long as you can . . . I didn't want it to end." Adding to the chorus of praise, The Independent, naming it one of their top 20 books of 2024, notes it is "'personal and warm and full of revealing small details about music superstars'."

In a quiet corner of rural Wales, young Tiffany Murray spent her days hiding with her dog Boggle, dreaming of her mum Joan's delicious cooking amidst the bleating of sheep and the scent of hay. But the soundtrack to this seemingly idyllic existence was the constant twang of guitars and crack of snares drifting on the breeze from Rockfield, the iconic recording studios where her mum worked and they lived.

My Family and Other Rock Stars is Tiff's remarkable and truly singular story of growing up in this unconventional setting. Her childhood was a freewheeling, ever-changing whirlwind of farm life, friendships with local wildlife, and helping her mum prepare endless feasts to keep the legendary bands recording at Rockfield well-fed. While young Tiff longed for a dog and a father, the unwavering constant was her and Joan, forging their own unconventional family in the most unlikely of locations.

Murray's memoir beautifully captures this rural idyll, interwoven with anecdotes of Cordon Bleu cookery and the surreal normality of a childhood where bumping into Freddie Mercury playing piano, encountering Hell's Angels recording for Lemmy, or even holding out hope for a visit from David Bowie, were as commonplace as hopscotch and homework.

My Family and Other Rock Stars is a personal and warm account, brimming with those "revealing small details about music superstars" that The Independent highlights. However, its true charm lies in Murray's evocative writing and heartfelt portrayal of her unique upbringing. It's a funny, poignant, and utterly captivating memoir that leaves the reader feeling as though they've shared a truly special and delicious slice of a very rock 'n' roll childhood.