Author interview: Clair Wills reveals her family and social history 

Brought up in London and spending childhood summers in her grandmother's house in West Cork prompted the author to delve into her family's background

With four historical books under her belt, two of them prize-winners, Clair Wills is now the regius professor of English literature at Cambridge University. Picture: Zahid Chaudhary

• Missing Persons, Or My Grandmother’s Secrets 
• Clair Wills 
• Allen Lane, €22.99/ Kindle, €11.98