REVIEW:

When you pick up a memoir by someone you’ve never heard of and end up finishing it all in one go, you know you’ve found a winner.

People who live above rocks and not under them like me may already know Ashley C. Ford from her podcasts, hosting gigs, or writings for outlets such as BuzzFeed, The Guardian, Slate, and The New York Times. In her first book, Somebody’s Daughter, she set out to convey her experience growing up as a poor, Black girl with a father incarcerated for rape. Turns out, she couldn’t do that without focusing on what life was like with the one parent left to raise her - an emotionally detached and often physically abusive mother.

The power of this memoir comes from Ford’s commitment to her truth. These were her experiences, seen through her eyes, and felt by her body. The end result is a self-reflective and unapologetic look at coming of age feeling both drawn to and repelled by your lineage.

The audiobook includes a bonus conversation between Ford and one of her contemporaries, author/poet Clint Smith. This alone is worth the price of admission, as the two discuss fascinating topics like what it takes to write an honest memoir without compromising your reality for the sake of your relationships. For aspiring nonfiction writers in particular, I highly recommend listening. But humans interested in building empathy for others will be greatly served as well.

I received an advance review copy of the audiobook courtesy of Macmillan Audio through NetGalley.

PUBLISHER 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 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.