Somebody’s Daughter is a beautiful memoir by Ashley C. Ford. It was a quick read, but very powerful, and exquisitely written. I would not hesitate to read this book again, nor would I hesitate to recommend it.
Ashley’s father has been incarcerated for most of her life and for as long as she can remember she has put him on a pedestal. She only has vague memories of seeing him in person, but she feels like he is the only person who really truly understands her. She believes she understands him as well. She believes one day they will be reunited and she will finally feel complete. The problem with this though is that he is in prison, she has no idea when he will get out, and she also does not know what he did to end up in prison. Through her difficulties at home with her mother, dealing with the aftermath of being raped, and through puberty and poverty, Ashley kind of leans on the image of her father as a comfort and as encouragement. When Ashley finally finds out why her father is really in prison that is kind of where the story really begins for her.
For being a relatively short book there was a still a whole lot to unpack in this memoir. I honestly cannot stop thinking about it because there were things in it that I related to, other things I was able to learn from. One of the things I personally love about reading memoirs is I feel that you can learn a lot from them, but you also can find yourself in them as well and learn from that and also know that you are not alone. Even though your experience is unique to you it is also comforting to know someone else has gone through something similar and you are not alone even if it feels as if you are.
I gave this book 5/5 stars and like I mentioned earlier, I would not hesitate to recommend it. I honestly will probably read this book multiple times. I am so glad I picked this book in my Book of the Month box a couple of months ago.
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