The Dark Dad: War and trauma a daughters tale
(Paperback)
Publishing Details
The Dark Dad: War and trauma a daughters tale
By (Author) Mary Kisler
Massey University Press
Massey University Press
10th April 2025
New Zealand
Classifications
General
Non Fiction
Prisoners of war
Second World War
Physical Properties
Paperback
264
Width 148mm, Height 210mm, Spine 19mm
358g
Description
Art historian Mary Kisler grew up in the early 1950s with a father who talked little, whose affection she cherished and whose anger she feared. She later came to understand the trauma that lay behind his dark moods: rejection and violence in his childhood and the brutal experience of being a prisoner of war in Italy and then Germany from late 1941 to 1945.
In this affecting memoir, she traces back through her fathers life and war record, discovering a man who had suffered but who ultimately found peace of mind among the people he loved most.
Author Bio
Mary Kisler is the Curator Emerita of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tmaki. Her previous books are Angels & Aristocrats: Early European Art in New Zealand Public Galleries (2010), Frances Hodgkins European Journeys (with Catherine Hammond, 2019) and Finding Frances Hodgkins (2019).
