Somebody’s Daughter

Title: 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.

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.

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About the Author