Father of the Rain
By Lily King
- Release Date: 2010-07-06
- Genre: Literary Fiction
Description
Prize-winning author Lily King’s masterful new novel spans three decades of a volatile relationship between a charismatic, alcoholic father and the daughter who loves him.
Gardiner Amory is a New England WASP who's beginning to feel the cracks in his empire. Nixon is being impeached, his wife is leaving him, and his worldview is rapidly becoming outdated. His daughter, Daley, has spent the first eleven years of her life negotiating her parents’ conflicting worlds: the liberal, socially committed realm of her mother and the conservative, decadent, liquor-soaked life of her father. But when they divorce, and Gardiner’s basest impulses are unleashed, the chasm quickly widens and Daley is stretched thinly across it.
As she reaches adulthood, Daley rejects the narrow world that nourished her father’s fears and prejudices, and embarks on her own separate life—until he hits rock bottom. Lured home by the dream of getting her father sober, Daley risks everything she's found beyond him, including her new love, Jonathan, in an attempt to repair a trust broken years ago.
A provocative story of one woman's lifelong loyalty to her father, Father of the Rain is a spellbinding journey into the emotional complexities and magnetic pull of family.
Reviews
Heartwarming and heartbreaking, but in a good way
5By Dough DRTIt's tough out there. Emotional abuse by ones parents is shocking, yet it happens more often than not. This is a very well written story and I recommend it highly!Father of the Rain
4By AllegretaHas there ever been a "normal" father/daughter relationship outside of TV episodes of "Father Knows Best?" The girl is seeking something she will never have and we experience this over and over, in fact ad nauseum. She is intelligent but her emotions drive her -- another daughter would have written her father off after the first summer of hell she spent with him when her parents divorced. She keeps pressing her nose against the bakery window; the pies are so delicious and so completely unattainable. I found this story repetitious and meandering, yet I was captivated by the description of the town, the house and some of the characters. Character driven with a predictable plot, the story was too long. I would recommend this book to women who had strained and strange relationships with their fathers, if they wanted to share an "aha!" moment. But then again who needs to be reminded of a sad past? Obviously a lot of time went into the writing of the book regarding the minutest details of the town. But in the end the question one asks is "do I care about these people?" My answer would be no. Respectfully, Allegreta BlauFather of the rain
5By geode19947Awesome!!! A must read!Father of the Rain
5By J. W. HartlineI loved this book and couldn't put it down. The dialogue is masterfully written. It wasn't corny or forced.... So natural. The characters were so alive and flawed beautifully. I felt like I was reading an evolved Judy Blume book. All those feelings of angst thrown out there so real and raw. Thanks Lily King for entertaining me while I dealt with moving my family overseas. I needed your distraction. Can't wait to read more from you! A Big Fan
