“In a new book that is strikingly raw and emotional, Patrick Kennedy paints a detailed portrait of the complex and fraught relationship he had with his father, Edward M. Kennedy, as well as some of the intense pressures of living in one of America’s most storied political families,” the Boston Globe reports.

“Kennedy… provides an intimate picture of a dysfunctional family and some of its well-publicized struggles with alcoholism and mental health issues — and what he describes as a blanket of secrecy that papered over their problems.”

His brother Ted released a statement: “I am heartbroken that Patrick has chosen to write what is an inaccurate and unfair portrayal of our family.”