Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Review: Every Father's Daughter by:Various Authors

Every Father's Daughter: Twenty-four Women Writers Remember Their Fathers
About the Book:
“What is it about the relationship between fathers and daughters that provokes so much exquisite tenderness, satisfying communion, longing for more, idealization from both ends, followed often if not inevitably by disappointment, hurt, and the need to understand and forgive, or to finger the guilt of not understanding and loving enough?” writes Phillip Lopate, in his introduction to Every Father's Daughter, a collection of 25 personal essays by women writers writing about their fathers.

The editor, Margaret McMullan, is a novelist and distinguished educator. About half of these essays were written by invitation for this anthology; others were selected by Ms. McMullan and her associate, Philip Lopate, who provides an introduction. The contributors include many well-known writers—Alice Munro, Jayne Anne Phillips, Alexandra Styron, Ann Hood, Bobbie Ann Mason, Maxine Hong Kingston, to name a few—as well as other writers perhaps less well-known but no less cogent, inventive, perceptive, lacerating, questioning, or loving of their fathers.

My Review:
 As Father's Day approaches, I am reminded that I have an earthly father that has long since reached his destination and lately I have been thinking about him and his silliness. My husband reminds me of him a lot. When I see him interacting with our children specifically I see my Dad. He was strong in his beliefs. He had unfailing courage. He never met a stranger and he loved his daughter with every breathe of his being. Growing up I had a pretty normal especially when compared to others, childhood. The only thing that was hard to manage sometimes was that we were very poor, especially when compared to today's standards. But my parents did their best to be content with our circumstances and were real good examples for me to be content, as well.

 Dads and daughters have a special connection. The first love a girl will ever have will be that of her father or a father figure in her life. Daddy's are the ones we run to when afraid and we feel that they can protect us from anything.  In Every Father's Daughter, there is a collection of 25 different essays that a few profound authors have written about the memory or memories of their fathers. Many of the memories are good solid ones, but I found a few somewhat sad. My heart ached for these fellow daughters as I read their penned words.

 This book will cause you to become nostalgic as well. I'm not sure if that's a good thing for most, but I liked looking back at my Dad and remembering. Thank you ladies for sharing your memories. This book spans generations and is a great book to read in reference to Father's Day.

**Disclosure** This book was sent to me free of charge for my honest review from the author.

No comments:

Post a Comment