Tag: Sue Monk Kidd

Ten Recommended Books about Fathers and Fatherhood

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A few weeks ago, I shared my list of recommended books about mothers and motherhood. This week, to commemorate Father’s Day, I’ve created a similar list of great reads about fathers.

Like my Moms’ list, Dads come in all shapes and sizes and bring all sorts of drama and emotional nuance to these stories. In some instances, Dads were a minor character or a deceased one that still left a major influence on an adult child, sometimes many years later (Shoeless Joe), while others are the main character of the novel trying to make their way in the world while providing a good life for their children (The Shipping News). I’ve also included one memoir, a positive reflection on a father’s love of sports that was passed on to his daughter (The Best Seat in the House). 

In almost every book, the father character brings intrigue and conflict. You can’t ignore the impact a father has on their child—for good, bad or indifferent.

By the way, most of these are also films, so if you don’t feel like reading, you can always watch the story unfold on the screen.

Without further delay, here are my best book recommendations with strong father figure characters. You may have your own list, of course. What books have you read that featured a strong father figure character?

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Told from the point of view of six-year-old Scout Finch, readers not only learn about life in the South during the Great Depression, but about Scout’s relationship with her father, Atticus, a widower and a lawyer who wants justice to be served and to bring up his children right.

Bee Season by Myla Goldberg
As Eliza attempts to win the national spelling bee, her father becomes obsessed with her success. As she gets deeper and deeper into her “training” under her father’s tutelage, the family’s connections begin to unravel. Readers see how controlling her father becomes, which impacts all his familial relationships.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Not everyone appreciates the name they’re given at birth. Gogol is haunted by his name, given to him by his father who named him after an author he had always admired but who came with a lot of baggage. The unease that Gogol feels about his name fuels many of the conflicts in his life, especially those with his father.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Set in 1964, this is a coming-of-age story about 14-year-old Lily who runs away from home with the family housekeeper in search for the truth about her mother. I included this book on this list for the impact Lily’s father had on her life and the final showdown she has with him in an attempt to claim her independence.  

Disgrace by J. M. Coetze
After being accused of sexual misconduct by a student, English professor David Lurie leaves the university “disgraced” and moves to South Africa where his daughter Lucy lives. There he attempts to mend the broken pieces of their relationship.

Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult
Life isn’t always the way we believe it to be. Delia’s life is turned upside down when she learns that she was kidnapped by her father when she was four, an incident she has little memory of. As events unfold, Delia is forced to confront some hard truths about her father (and mother), though she stays loyal to him in the end.

Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella
The movie Field of Dreams is based on this novel by W.P. Kinsella. Farmer Ray Kinsella heeds the call to build a baseball field in the middle of his Iowa cornfield. As he follows a trail of clues, he ponders his life without his long deceased father who had longed to be a baseball player. Each step takes him closer to his ultimate reward—reuniting briefly with his father.  

The Shipping News by L Annie Prouix
When Quoyle loses both his parents to suicide and his wife leaves him for a younger lover, he moves with his children to Newfoundland to a house that was in his family for generations. What struck me most about this story was Quoyle’s dedication to his children and his willingness to uproot their lives and start over in an part of the world to protect them from the pain and grief he has suffered through.

The Hundred Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais
One of my favorite books and a pretty decent film. After their restaurant in India is destroyed by fire, killing their mother, an Indian family moves to London, then to Paris where young son Hassain begins to find his way in the culinary world against his father’s wishes who wants him to remain true to his Indian roots. Despite his gruff manner, Hassain’s father truly loves his family, and readers see determined he is to keep the family together as they struggle to adapt to life in a new country.

The Best Seat in the House by Christine Brennan
If you read USA Today, you no doubt have read some of Brennan’s stories. She’s covered sports for several decades at a time when few women covered the sports beat. In this memoir, Brennan pays homage to her father, an avid baseball and football fan who followed the Detroit Tigers, Toledo Mud Hens (the Tigers minor league team) and Notre Dame. It’s a fun read to learn how father and daughter can bond over sports. These are all great reads, by the way, no matter what time of year. And you don’t have to be a father yourself to enjoy them.

Must-Read Historical Fiction with Strong Leading Female Protagonists

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March is Women’s History Month, and to commemorate the occasion, this week’s post will focus on historical fiction featuring strong female protagonists.

Throughout history, women have made huge contributions to our world – in science, politics, lifestyle, sports and, of course, literature. It makes sense to tell their stories to showcase their accomplishments. Even fictionalized accounts of real events can bring meaning to today’s readers.

Historical fiction can mean a number of things. It could be fictionalized stories that take place during  true events, such as World War II (Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale), or it could be a fictionalized story of the lives of real people (Becoming Jane Eyre by Sheila Kohler).

While I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, I’ve read enough of them to compile my list of must-reads. Below are my top choices of historical fiction featuring strong leading female characters. They are not listed in any particular order. In some cases, I’ve included alternates choices.

Do you read historical fiction? Which of the stories you’ve read would you recommend?

* The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale is the story of two sisters who find themselves facing life-changing horrors during Germany’s occupation of France during World War II. Vianne and Isabelle resist the war in ways they never thought possible. Beautifully written and at times heartbreaking, The Nightingale has one of the most poignant and memorable endings. It is currently being made into a movie starring real-life sisters, Dakota and Elle Fanning.

Alternate choice: Winter Garden, also by Kristin Hannah

Set in the year 70 C.E, 900 Jews held out for months against the Roman army on Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert. Historians say only two women and five children survived. Hoffman’s novel tells the stories of four bold and resourceful women, each of whom has come to mountain by different means. It took Hoffman five years to research and write this lengthy novel. Beautifully written but at times painful to read. Be patient; the book starts out slow and meanders in the opening section, but with each women’s story, readers get a view of the horrific pain and devastation that affected so many lives.

Alternate choice: The Museum of Extraordinary Things, also by Alice Hoffman

  • In The Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

    In November 1960, three sisters were found dead near their wrecked Jeep at the bottom of a 150-foot cliff in the Dominican Republic. A fourth sister lives however. The sisters, whose code name was Las Mariposas (the Butterflies) were leading opponents of the country’s dictatorship. The story is told through the voices of the four sisters who speak across several decades of their lives up until their deaths. I found the story intriguing and heartbreaking at times.

Set in Charleston in the early 1800s, The Invention of Wings tells the story of the two Grimke sisters, Angelina and Sarah, who became early abolitionists and advocates for women’s rights. When 11-year-old Sarah is given 10-year-old Handful to be her personal maid, Sarah balks. With alternating viewpoints, the story shows how their relationship evolves over 35 years.

Alternate: The Secret Life of Bees also by Sue Monk Kidd  

The only book on my list written by a man, The Book Thief is also set during World War II. While standing at her brother’s grave site, Liesel finds a book buried in the snow, which spurs her love of books. With the help of her step-father and a Jewish refugee that her family hides, she learns to read. Anyone who loves books and reading can empathize with young Liesel who goes to great lengths to spare books from destruction by Nazis. One of the few stories I enjoyed as both a book and a film.

  • Becoming Jane Eyre by Sheila Kohler

    Interestingly, I find this fictionalized account of the life of Charlotte Bronte far more compelling than the original Jane Eyre. The story covers the last nine years of Bronte’s life, her relationship with her father and sisters and how she came to write Jane Eyre.