Growing up in Dublin, Hugo Hamilton was told that he was one of "the speckled people." What exactly is that? According to Hamilton's father, they are "the new Irish, partly from Ireland, partly from somewhere else." This was the seed which has blossomed fully into Hamilton's latest book, "The Speckled People: A Memoir of a Half-Irish Childhood." Hamilton's book is a brilliant twist on a book genre which is certainly in danger of becoming overcrowded: the Irish memoir. Hamilton's Dad was a fierce Irish nationalist, and thus demands that his children speak their native language. His mother, however, is a soft-spoken German whose family refused to follow the anti-Semitic lead of the Nazis. She speaks to her children in her own native tongue. Being the quintessential difficult child, Hamilton disagrees with both of his parents. He wants to speak English, as all the other Dublin children do. This linguistic conflict is one small part of the broader difficulties Hamilton faced growing up. Kids chased him and called him "Eichmann." Fueled by fear, guilt and cultural confusion, Hamilton sets out to understand Irish and German history. At the same time, secrets long-held by his parents will force him to understand history on a much more personal level. All of which has made for what could be Hamilton's most successful book to date, after building up a fine reputation as a novelist. ($24.95 / 298 pages / 4th Estate)