Description

Book Synopsis

'A page-turner with a mystery to solve, and a meditation on what it means for a child to know their parents' - Cathy Rentzenbrink
'An exceptional, entirely unpredictable, real-life thriller' - Michael Mansfield

WINNER OF THE BRIDPORT PRIZE FOR MEMOIR


What would you do to find out the truth about someone you love? A forensic, propulsive book about the line between fact and fiction.


Renowned scientist Professor Michael Briggs was many things:
A Space expert at NASA
An adviser to the World Health Organisation
A successful Big Pharma executive

But Michael Briggs had a secret.

A scandal broke out in 1986 when research he conducted was revealed to be compromised. Patients were also claiming that a pregnancy test he pioneered had caused devastating birth defects. Soon after his fall from grace, Briggs was dead, struck down by a mystery illness in a foreign country

Briggs left behind a long list of publications, patents, and inventions. But he also left behind hundreds of people who believe they are victims of his negligence and who are still fighting for justice to this day.

And he left someone else: his daughter, Joanne. After decades of wondering who her father really was, Joanne decided to investigate for herself. In hypnotic prose, she uncovers the secret that shaped her father's entire life and made his story more fantastic than any science fiction. As she discovered, Briggs's greatest invention was himself.

The Scientist Who Wasnt There

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    £17.00

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    RRP £20.00 – you save £3.00 (15%)

    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Fri 10 Jul 2026.

    A Hardback by Joanne Briggs

    3 in stock

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      Publisher: Bonnier Books Ltd
      Publication Date: Publication Date: 6/5/2025
      ISBN13: 9781804189726, 978-1804189726
      ISBN10: 1804189723

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      'A page-turner with a mystery to solve, and a meditation on what it means for a child to know their parents' - Cathy Rentzenbrink
      'An exceptional, entirely unpredictable, real-life thriller' - Michael Mansfield

      WINNER OF THE BRIDPORT PRIZE FOR MEMOIR


      What would you do to find out the truth about someone you love? A forensic, propulsive book about the line between fact and fiction.


      Renowned scientist Professor Michael Briggs was many things:
      A Space expert at NASA
      An adviser to the World Health Organisation
      A successful Big Pharma executive

      But Michael Briggs had a secret.

      A scandal broke out in 1986 when research he conducted was revealed to be compromised. Patients were also claiming that a pregnancy test he pioneered had caused devastating birth defects. Soon after his fall from grace, Briggs was dead, struck down by a mystery illness in a foreign country

      Briggs left behind a long list of publications, patents, and inventions. But he also left behind hundreds of people who believe they are victims of his negligence and who are still fighting for justice to this day.

      And he left someone else: his daughter, Joanne. After decades of wondering who her father really was, Joanne decided to investigate for herself. In hypnotic prose, she uncovers the secret that shaped her father's entire life and made his story more fantastic than any science fiction. As she discovered, Briggs's greatest invention was himself.

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