SOMEBODY’S DAUGHTER
A Memoir
One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the looming absence of her incarcerated father.
Through poverty, adolescence, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley Ford wishes she could turn to her father for hope and encouragement. There are just a few problems: he’s in prison, and she doesn’t know what he did to end up there. She doesn’t know how to deal with the incessant worries that keep her up at night, or how to handle the changes in her body that draw unwanted attention from men.
One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the looming absence of her incarcerated father.
Through poverty, adolescence, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley Ford wishes she could turn to her father for hope and encouragement. There are just a few problems: he’s in prison, and she doesn’t know what he did to end up there. She doesn’t know how to deal with the incessant worries that keep her up at night, or how to handle the changes in her body that draw unwanted attention from men. In her search for unconditional love, Ashley begins dating a boy her mother hates. When the relationship turns sour, he assaults her. Still reeling from the rape, which she keeps secret from her family, Ashley desperately searches for meaning in the chaos. Then, her grandmother reveals the truth about her father’s incarceration . . . and Ashley’s entire world is turned upside down.
Somebody’s Daughter steps into the world of growing up a poor Black girl in Indiana with a family fragmented by incarceration, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be. As Ashley battles her body and her environment, she embarks on a powerful journey to find the threads between who she is and what she was born into, and the complicated familial love that often binds them.
- Flatiron Books: An Oprah Book
- Hardcover
- June 2021
- 224 Pages
- 9781250305978
Buy the Book
$27.99
About Ashley C. Ford
Ashley C. Ford is a writer, host, and educator who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband, poet and fiction writer Kelly Stacy, and their chocolate lab Astro Renegade Ford-Stacy. Ford is the former host of The Chronicles of Now podcast, co-host of The HBO companion podcast Lovecraft Country Radio, seasons one & three of MasterCard’s Fortune Favors The Bold, as well as the video interview series PROFILE by BuzzFeed News, and Brooklyn-based news & culture TV show, 112BK.
She was also the host of the first season of Audible’s literary interview series, Authorized. She has been named among Forbes Magazine‘s 30 Under 30 in Media (2017), Brooklyn Magazine‘s Brooklyn 100 (2016), Time Out New York’s New Yorkers of The Year (2017), and Variety’s New Power of New York (2019).
Praise
“Sure to be one of the best memoirs of 2021.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“This remarkable, heart-wrenching story of loss, hardship, and self-acceptance astounds.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Those starved to feel something post-pandemic are sure to be jolted back to life by this brilliant memoir.” —Steph Buschardt, Publishers Weekly
“Ashley Ford’s much-awaited memoir chronicles her complicated relationship with her father…expect a deeply moving, nuanced story.” —Buzzfeed, 75 Books to Add to Your 2021 TBR List
“Layering in the complexities of her relationship with her mother, her changing body and a boyfriend who grows abusive, Ford offers a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story.”—Time, The 21 Most Anticipated Books of 2021
“In this beautiful, delicate memoir, writer Ashley C. Ford recounts a childhood defined by her incarcerated father’s absence…and she starts a journey toward true and powerful selfhood.” —Elle, 55 Books to Read in 2021
“Expect to see Somebody’s Daughter make waves this year.” —LitHub, Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2021