Books
With Father's Day around the corner, it's time to talk about that special relationship between fathers and daughters. While so much lip service is paid to fathers and sons and mothers and daughters, you can't deny the powerful bond shared between a dad and his daughter. Of course, one of the best ways to reflect on what your dad means to you is by picking up a book that explores this unique relationship.
Of course, father-daughter relationships aren't always sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes they can be pretty complicated, as some of these books definitely show. Everyone's relationship with their dad is completely unique, but maybe one of these books will resonate with the complexities of your relationship with your own dad.
Yet, even when it seems like you and your dad couldn't be further apart, there's always that little something that ties you two together. Maybe it's your mutual love of basketball, or the fond memories you share from that summer he taught you how to drive. Maybe it's something as simple as the fact that you have the same nose, or the way you know he's always going to be there for you.
So, no matter how you're celebrating your dad next weekend, pick up one of these excellent reads about fathers and daughters.
'The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley' by Hannah Tinti
The father-daughter pair in this book have an unbreakable bond. Samuel Hawley has spent his life on the run, and now he bears twelve scars from bullet wounds, each with their own story. Now his daughter, Loo, is asking questions about her mother's mysterious death. As Samuel's criminal past begins to spill into their present, the two must face a reckoning together.
'Refuge' by Dina Nayeri
The father and daughter in this book have been separated for decades and have only seen each other four times in 20 years. When she was a child, Niloo fled Iran while her father stayed behind. This book chronicles how their relationship withstood the tests of distance and time.
'Loving Day' by Mat Johnson
After returning to America, Warren Duffy discovers that he has a long-lost teenage daughter, Tal. But while Warren is mixed-race and identifies as black, Tal has been raised to believe she is white. As the two work to reconcile their lives and build a relationship, they learn a thing or two about racial identity, heritage, and family.
'The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared' by Alice Ozma
In this sweet memoir, Alice Ozma recounts how her dad read aloud to her every night from the 4th grade until she eventually left for college. Told through a series of vignettes, this book shows how Ozma's father used each book to teach her a life lesson.
'The World in Half' by Cristina Henriquez
Miraflores always believed her father never wanted to know her. But when she returns home to care for her mother (who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's), she discovers that her mother and father were actually in love... and that her father fought for years to know his daughter. So Miraflores embarks to Panama in search of him, and in turn, to discover herself.
'The Middle Place' by Kelly Corrigan
"The thing you need to know about me is that I am George Corrigan's daughter, his only daughter" — so begins this moving memoir. In Te Middle Place, Kelly Corrigan examines how her larger-than-life dad touched her life, and considers how she herself can be a good parent to her daughters using the lessons she learned from him.
'Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father' by Alysia Abbott
In this dazzling memoir, Alysia Abbott recounts life exploring San Francisco's bustling LGBTQ scene in the '70s and '80s with her bisexual father. This book is both a vivid portrait of the queer scene and a moving story of father-daughter love.
