Father of the Rain
By (Author) Lily King
Pan Macmillan
Picador
28th January 2025
7th November 2024
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Saga fiction (family / generational sagas)
Narrative theme: Coming of age
Narrative theme: Love and relationships
Narrative theme: Identity / belonging
Narrative theme: Politics
Narrative theme: Health and illness
Family life fiction
Drugs and alcohol: social aspects
813.6
Paperback
416
Width 130mm, Height 197mm, Spine 26mm
292g
Winner of the New England Book Award for Fiction Gardiner Amory's life is reeling - Nixon is being impeached, his wife is leaving him and his worldview is rapidly becoming outdated. His daughter, Daley, has spent her life negotiating her parents' conflicting worlds: the liberal realm of her mother and the conservative, liquor-soaked life of her father. But when the pair divorces, Gardiner's basest impulses are unleashed in a deluge, and the chasm between all of them widens. As she reaches adulthood, Daley rejects her father's prejudices and embarks on her own life - until Gardiner hits rock bottom. Returning home to help her father get sober, Daley risks everything she's found beyond him, including a chance at love, in an attempt to repair a trust that was broken long ago . . . 'A gripping epic about a father and daughter that plumbs the dark side of a family riven by addiction and mental illness' - Entertainment Weekly
A gripping epic about a father and daughter that plumbs the dark side of a family riven by addiction and mental illness. * Entertainment Weekly *
Brilliant . . . An absorbing, insightful story written in cool, polished prose right to the last conflicted line. * The Washington Post *
Spellbinding . . . You won't be able to stop reading. * Vanity Fair *
King is a beautiful writer, with equally strong gifts for dialogue and internal monologue. * The New York Times Book Review *
Haunting, incisive . . . brilliant. * Elle *
Luminous . . . Uplifing . . . Fresh, with vividly drawn characters. * O, The Oprah Magazine *
Fierce. * Vogue *
A big, powerful punch of a novel. * Entertainment Weekly *
Richly satisfying. -- Richard Russo
Lily King is the author of The Pleasing Hour, The English Teacher, Father of the Rain, Euphoria, Writers & Lovers, which was a New York Times bestseller, and the short story collection, Five Tuesdays in Winter. Euphoria won the Kirkus Prize and the New England Book Award for Fiction, was named one of the 10 Best Books of the Year by The New York Times, and was also a New York Times bestseller. It was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. King is also the recipient of a Whiting Writers' Award and has twice won both the Maine Fiction Award and the New England Book Award. She lives in Maine, USA.