Hello dear Readers,
Below is my book review of Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir by Ashley C. Ford.
Title: Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Genre: Memoir
Author: Ashley C. Ford
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: June 01, 2020
Publication Date: June 01, 2020
Language: English
Hardcover: 224 pages
Meet the Author: Ashley C. Ford
Buy Me: Amazon
Meet the Author: Ashley C. Ford
Buy Me: Amazon
Book Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“This is a book people will be talking about forever.” ―Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed
“Ford’s wrenchingly brilliant memoir is truly a classic in the making. The writing is so richly observed and so suffused with love and yearning that I kept forgetting to breathe while reading it.” ―John Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author
One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the looming absence of her incarcerated father.
Through poverty, adolescence, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley C. Ford wishes she could turn to her father for hope and encouragement. There are just a few problems: he’s in prison, and she doesn’t know what he did to end up there. She doesn’t know how to deal with the incessant worries that keep her up at night, or how to handle the changes in her body that draw unwanted attention from men. In her search for unconditional love, Ashley begins dating a boy her mother hates. When the relationship turns sour, he assaults her. Still reeling from the rape, which she keeps secret from her family, Ashley desperately searches for meaning in the chaos. Then, her grandmother reveals the truth about her father’s incarceration . . . and Ashley’s entire world is turned upside down.
Somebody’s Daughter steps into the world of growing up a poor Black girl in Indiana with a family fragmented by incarceration, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be. As Ashley battles her body and her environment, she embarks on a powerful journey to find the threads between who she is and what she was born into, and the complicated familial love that often binds them.
“This is a book people will be talking about forever.” ―Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed
“Ford’s wrenchingly brilliant memoir is truly a classic in the making. The writing is so richly observed and so suffused with love and yearning that I kept forgetting to breathe while reading it.” ―John Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author
One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the looming absence of her incarcerated father.
Through poverty, adolescence, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley C. Ford wishes she could turn to her father for hope and encouragement. There are just a few problems: he’s in prison, and she doesn’t know what he did to end up there. She doesn’t know how to deal with the incessant worries that keep her up at night, or how to handle the changes in her body that draw unwanted attention from men. In her search for unconditional love, Ashley begins dating a boy her mother hates. When the relationship turns sour, he assaults her. Still reeling from the rape, which she keeps secret from her family, Ashley desperately searches for meaning in the chaos. Then, her grandmother reveals the truth about her father’s incarceration . . . and Ashley’s entire world is turned upside down.
Somebody’s Daughter steps into the world of growing up a poor Black girl in Indiana with a family fragmented by incarceration, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be. As Ashley battles her body and her environment, she embarks on a powerful journey to find the threads between who she is and what she was born into, and the complicated familial love that often binds them.
''It wasn't lost on me that I mostly spoke my truth in the spaces that my family was absent.''
Somebody's daughter is a beautiful, heartbreaking, honest, and raw account of Ashley's childhood, teenage years, and adulthood. Having to deal with the fact that her father is in prison for rape and that basically, she grew up without that father figure fully present in her life.
Worth mentioning, this is a beautifully written memoir however the topics exposed mostly are not. Trigger warnings on rape, cancer, incarceration of a family member, body image issues, and domestic violence.
I always say I admire how brave people are by telling their stories, and that you can always see something you can relate to. The honesty with which the author talks about these serious issues is appreciated.
Her complicated relationship with her mother and the beautiful one with her grandmother is what stood up to me the most, but also, how willing the author was to also have a real relationship with her father despite the circumstances.
Another incredible memoir, really worth the time to read.