One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the ever looming absence of her incarcerated father and the path we must take to both honor and overcome our origins.
Ford is a writer for the ages, and So. --Kirkus Reviews, starred review So clear, sharp, and smooth that the reader sees, in vivid focus, Ford\'s complicated childhood, brilliant mind, and golden heart. -- Glennon Doyle, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Untamed and founder of Together Rising Sure to be one of the best memoirs of 2021.
Ashley Ford is a writer for the ages, and Somebody\'s Daughter will be a book of the year.
The gravity and urgency of Somebody\'s Daughter anchored me to my chair and slowed my heartbeat--like no book has since Toni Morrison\'s The Bluest Eye.
Ashley Ford\'s prose is glass--so clear, sharp and smooth that the reader sees, in vivid focus, her complicated childhood, brilliant mind, and golden heart.
As Ashley battles her body and her environment, she provides a poignant coming-of-age recollection that speaks to finding the threads between who you are and what you were born into, and the complicated familial love that often binds them.
Somebody\'s Daughter steps into the world of growing up a poor Black girl, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be.
And that\'s where the story really begins.
Still reeling from the rape, which she keeps secret from her family, Ashley finally finds out why her father is in prison.
In her search for unconditional love, Ashley begins dating a boy her mother hates; when the relationship turns sour, he assaults her.
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.
Through poverty, puberty, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley returns to her image of 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\'s certain that one day they\'ll be reunited again, and she\'ll finally feel complete.
He\'s sensitive like her, an artist, and maybe even just as afraid of the dark.
She thinks she understands him too.
Despite having only vague memories of seeing him face-to-face, she believes he\'s the only person in the entire world who understands her.
For as long as she could remember, Ashley has put her father on a pedestal.
One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the ever looming absence of her incarcerated father and the path we must take to both honor and overcome our origins
