Father of the Rain
Paperback, 368 pages
Published May 10th 2011 by Grove Press
Prize-winning author Lily King’s masterful new novel spans three decades of a volatile relationship between a charismatic, alcoholic father and the daughter who loves him.
Gardiner Amory is a New England WASP who's beginning to feel the cracks in his empire. Nixon is being impeached, his wife is leaving him, and his worldview is rapidly becoming outdated. His daughter, Daley, has spent the first eleven years of her life negotiating her parents’ conflicting worlds: the liberal, socially committed realm of her mother and the conservative, decadent, liquor-soaked life of her father. But when they divorce, and Gardiner’s basest impulses are unleashed, the chasm quickly widens and Daley is stretched thinly across it.
As she reaches adulthood, Daley rejects the narrow world that nourished her father’s fears and prejudices, and embarks on her own separate life—until he hits rock bottom. Lured home by the dream of getting her father sober, Daley risks everything she's found beyond him, including her new love, Jonathan, in an attempt to repair a trust broken years ago.
A provocative story of one woman's lifelong loyalty to her father, Father of the Rain is a spellbinding journey into the emotional complexities and magnetic pull of family.
About the author
Lily King grew up in Manchester, Massachusetts. She received her B.A. in English Literature from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her M.A. in Creative Writing from Syracuse University. She has taught English and Creative Writing at several universities and high schools in this country and abroad.
Lily’s first novel, The Pleasing Hour (1999) won the Barnes and Noble Discover Award and was a New York Times Notable Book and an alternate for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her second, The English Teacher, was a Publishers Weekly Top Ten Book of the Year, a Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year, and the winner of the Maine Fiction Award. Father of the Rain, her third novel, was published in July, 2010.
Lily is the recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship and a Whiting Award. Her short fiction has appeared in literary magazines including Ploughshares and Glimmer Train, as well as in several anthologies.
Connect with Lily
Giveaway Time!!
This novel sounds captivating and memorable.Thanks for this great feature. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteInteresting blurb
ReplyDeleteIntriguing story, especially since there is a hint about Gardiner's basest impulses...Hmmm. I have to read it!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a wonderful story and I love the cover! I really like the name Daley for your main character and this sounds like a great family story line.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an amazing book. I really admire Daley for how far she will go to help her father. I would love to read it. Thanks for having the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteayancey1974(at)gmail(dot)com
An intriguing story of family and character!
ReplyDeleteThanks for a chance to win this awesome giveaway!