Consumer Critique: Every Father's Daughter

Disclosure: I received complimentary products to facilitate this post. All opinions are my own.


“What is it about the relationship between fathers and da ughters that provokes so much exquisite tenderness, satisfying communion, longing for more, idealization from both ends, followed often if not inevitably by disappoint ment, hurt, and the need to understand and forgive, or to finger the guilt of not underst anding and loving enough?” writes Phillip Lopate, in his introduction to Every Father’s Daughter:  Twenty-four Women Writers Remember Their Fathers (McPherson & Company), an anthology of honest essays a variety of distinguished writers.

The editor, Margaret McMullan, included authors her father loved, and originally wrote the book as a way to work through her own grief at the death of her father. The project evolved along the way, and provides a powerful look at the relationships fathers have with their daughters. The whole gamut of emotions is included in these essays, and this book is a heartwarming read no matter what the relationship between father and daughter. It can inspire a stronger relationship, or allow the reader to feel that they aren't alone if they don't have a relationship with their fathers.

MARGARET MCMULLAN is the author of six award-winning novels. Her writing has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, Ploughshares, Southern Accents, TriQuarterly, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Sun, and many other publications. She received an NEA Fellowship in literature for Aftermath Lounge and a Fulbright award to teach at the University of Pécs in Pécs, Hungary, for her upcoming non-fiction work, Where the Angels Live. She currently holds the Melvin Peterson Endowed Chair in Creative Writing at the University of Evansville in Indiana.