Somebody’s Daughter

Somebody’s Daughter

Somebody's DaughterTitle: Somebody's Daughter
Author: Ashley C. Ford
First Published: June 1, 2021
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Pages: 224
Genre: Memoir, Non-Fiction
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
Rating:


Synopsis:

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.

Buy the Book: Amazon

Review

I knew that this memoir would be a heavy hitter but I didn’t expect to feel so much reading this book. Somebody’s Daughter is about the author’s life growing up with a largely missing father and a difficult, at times abusive mother. She shares her difficulties navigating her often turbulent childhood with her struggling single mom, sexual assault at the hands of men and boys, and coming to terms with her father’s incarceration for an unforgivable crime.

This book made me weep but it also made me feel a deep joy for the author, Ashley’s writing absolutely took my breath away. She is so emotionally intelligent and introspective, and she writes beautifully. I respect her for recognizing the complexities of people, particularly her mother, who at once was both loving and emotionally distant, a protector but also beholden to the toxic men in her life. Ashley’s father was locked up shortly after marriage, and I could relate on a personal level to both Ashley as the child of an unstable single mom, but also her mother as a single mother myself.

Reading this book felt like I was listening to the story of a close friend, and Ashley is the kind of calm cool person that is instantly likeable. I found myself heartbroken and worried for her, and my heart swelled for her later breakthroughs as an adult. Watching later interviews with her and seeing the love between her and Kelly made me so happy for her. She is a wonderful writer and her book honestly made me wish for the best for her.

Quote

“But in that moment, I felt like someone’s little girl. And I’d been waiting a long time to feel like somebody’s daughter.”

Content Warnings

View Spoiler »

About the Author

About Ashley C. Ford

Ashley C. Ford is the author of the New York Times Bestselling memoir, Somebody’s Daughter, published by Flatiron Books on June 1, 2021. Ford is the former host of The Chronicles of Now podcast, co-host of The HBO companion podcast Lovecraft Country Radio, seasons one & three of MasterCard’s Fortune Favors The Bold, as well as the video interview series PROFILE by BuzzFeed News, and Brooklyn-based news & culture TV show, 112BK. She currently lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband, poet and fiction writer Kelly Stacy, and their chocolate lab Astro Renegade Ford-Stacy.

Ford has written or guest-edited for The Guardian, ELLE Magazine, BuzzFeed, OUT Magazine, Mailchimp Presents, Slate, Teen Vogue, New York Magazine, Allure, Marie Claire, The New York Times, Netflix Queue, Domino, Cup of Jo, and various other web and print publications. She’s taught creative nonfiction writing at The New School and Catapult.Co, and had her work listed among Longform & Longread’s Best of 2017.

While working as an executive for Matter Studios, Ford focused on developing web series and documentaries. She was also the host of the first season of Audible’s literary interview series, Authorized. She has been named among Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 in Media (2017), Brooklyn Magazine’s Brooklyn 100 (2016), Time Out New York’s New Yorkers of The Year (2017), and Variety’s New Power of New York (2019).


Discover more from Radical Dreamer

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Comments

No comments yet. Why don’t you start the discussion?

Leave a Reply