pickFord‘s deeply honest and intimate memoir is beautifully written. She had a rough childhood in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but never lost her passion for life. From abuse to a father in prison, her journey hasn‘t been easy. I personally loved all the references to my home state and my alma mater, Ball State University.
pickAn amazing memoir, highly recommended to listen to the audio!
pickIt would be a very scary thing to tell your truth, knowing that the people you love may be hurt by it.
Ashley‘s memoir is brave and honest and written with grace.
pickFord grew up with a father in prison-a stranger she loved but didn't know. This is a story of family, pain, healing, and growing up, growing whole.
I *tore* through this book! I'm having trouble articulating why I found this memoir so compelling. I think it's because Ford knows how to paint a picture through moments. It's like flipping through a photo album of her life - we don't know all the in between moments, but it's still a beautiful story.
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a powerful memoir and I‘m glad I read it. I thought it was going to be more about her relationship with her father, but it was really a lot about her relationship with her mother. I wish she‘d dug into her relationship with her father more, but it‘s her story to tell so I really shouldn‘t judge! I recommend to anyone interested!!
pickGreat book. I really felt for the author. Her story was one that‘ll stick with me for a while. Well written memoir.
pickI enjoyed this book, and sometimes memoirs aren‘t my favorite. I wish she would have gone more into her father and his release, but overall I liked it.
⭐️: 3.5/5
pickAnother memoir for my year of memoirs! I‘m this book, the author reflected on her experiences growing up, particularly focusing on her relationship with her mother and her father. It was really good writing on family relationships and dynamics. There is heavy content, but it was told with insight and strength.
so-soFinally finished. It‘s only a couple hundred pages and I wanted to like it but I just…didn‘t. I can‘t even really put my finger on why, she writes well and the journey to find herself should have been compelling but overall I found it no more exciting than reading about my own life. I felt she dropped the ball with regards to her father, that those parts were kind of glossed over. It was ok, just not ultimately for me. #JubilantJuly
My goals are simple for #JubilantJuly: finish Somebody‘s Daughter by Monday for my twice postponed book group, finish Blank Page to First Draft, make a dent in Caste for Augusts book group, and start the Say Everything series. Plus I have lots of other books if these are@t getting it for me.
so-soGood and quick memoir! She moves through her life in warp speed, but tells the highlights well!
pickAshley Ford shares her incredible story of growing up in Indiana with inside views of her family, love, and self acceptance within the social construct of being black and just being. Her parental circumstances were challenging as her father was incarcerated for most of her life while her mother struggled making ends meet and coming to terms with her own issues. Grandmother was a constant and an inner compass. Well written and well worth reading.
Finished Stone Cold Cowboy. Still working on Vortex but now that I can see we‘ll out of one eye, it‘s time to start the book group book for July. (Got the right eye fixed on Thursday, getting my left one fixed this coming up Wednesday). #20in4readatjon @Andrew65
so-soI should preface this review by saying that I think memoirs are brave. I rarely review them as I don‘t think it‘s my place to comment on someone‘s life. That being said, there are a few issues that should be addressed. First of all, Ford‘s relationship with her father, a man who spent her entire childhood in prison for rape. In fact, his story seems tangential to her own. 👇
pickI first became acquainted with Ms Ford when she co-hosted the Lovecraft Country Radio podcast that accompanied the stellar HBO show Lovecraft Country. (Still pissed there‘s no season two, but I digress . . . ) I simply had to listen to her memoir when I realized she had one. So glad I did! Those that complain about her ‘whining‘ aren‘t actually hearing what she has to say. She‘s not whining- she just recounting her story. And it was hard. 🙌🏻
so-soIn interviews, Ford is candid, funny & smart so I had high expectations for this. Maybe too high because I found it kind of tedious in places, dull even.
Ford describes her childhood, complicated family, traumatic experiences & journey to love her whole self. At its heart this a story about the lack of safety Black girls face in their homes and wider society. That is an important story to tell. Some sharp editing would have made it better.
pickI flew through the book, fascinated by her experiences, but I didn't love it. At times it felt like an overview of her life. She introduces people central to her life, but we don't get much depth about them other than what they did to/for her. There's not enough development to see them as distinct humans, just names in the timeline of her life. It felt like multiple personal narrative essays thrown together. A soft pick #Bookspin @TheAromaofBooks
pickMy whole actual heart. I loved this memoir so much ❤❤❤❤❤
3.30.22
Thank you all for the birthday wishes! Vacation day with Frankie, this book and maybe some wine...
pickThis was a well written memoir, and honest. She didn‘t sugar coat any details, or tie up the truth in a more palpable narrative
pickI think any book that you don‘t want to end deserves 5 stars. Ford is able to write about her family in such a healthy manner- even when do much was dysfunctional. Her ability to see people for all that they are and understand who she is amidst that world makes for some good food for thought. I‘ll read anything Ford writes from here on out.
pickThe author of this memoir is strong, courageous, and inspiring. Somebody‘s Daughter made me think long and hard about family bonds and forgiveness. The author grows up in a family with an incarcerated dad, an unstable mom, and a grandmother who is a strong matriarch. She overcomes hardship and trauma (trigger warning without a spoiler) as she comes of age, finds herself, and makes amends with the demons from her past.
pickAshley's story is truly one of resilience - from growing up with her dad in prison, to her mom with unpredictable mood swings, to rape, to poverty and genuine uncertainty most of her growing up years. I look forward to future books as the author continues to develop in her craft of writing.
pickGorgeous. Brutal. Heartfelt.
I love Ashley C. Ford's writing. Her prose are beautiful even as to topics are painful and ugly. She brings to light so well the complexity of family relationships, and as someone who also am the first family member to leave the small town everyone else lives in it is nice to see that aspect explorered.
There are many topics and relationships addressed here and all of this feels quintessentially American.
pickThe author's father is in prison serving time for a crime that Ford herself would become a victim of.
In addition to the struggles and turmoil, there is fierce love and a strong, funny grandmother holding the family together.
A powerful memoir.
#bookofthemonth
pickBook #67: 🎧 Audiobook. Relationships, especially with your family, are never black and white. That Ashley is able to maintain these relationships with her parents after all she went through is a testament to her strength and empathy. One takeaway I had was that college truly does have the ability to change a person‘s life path and pull them out of bad home situations - if only it was more affordable and didn‘t leave the lasting burden of debt.
The library felt too good to be true. All those books, on all those shelves, and I could just pluck them out, one by one, find an empty chair, and read, and read, and read 📖📚
Oops!
Pretty sure the tissue was stuck up her nose...
so-soI know I'm in the minority here but I just didn't enjoy this memoir. I felt like there were things happening but it just wasn't a story. The elements of trauma, abuse, & neglect are heartbreaking but the author came across as very detached from her own experiences making it difficult for me to completely immerse myself in the story. ⭐⭐⭐
pickAshley really has quite a story to tell and she tells it in a compelling manner.
From the Publisher:
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.
pickA memoir about growing up in a big family but with an abusive mother and a father in prison. Loved Ashley‘s writing, and really respect her ability to reflect clearly on an upbringing that had troubles, yes, but also moments of joy.
pickThis memoir has been getting a lot of press lately, where much of the focus is on the fact that Ashley's father was incarcerated. But... it's really so much more. It's about her relationships with family members that she loves but who are imperfect. It's also about memories - those we want to forget and those we want to imprint indelibly. And it's all wrapped up in lyrical writing that was an absolute pleasure to read.
pickFord is vulnerable and beautiful in this book. I hope she keeps writing!
pickI read this as part of the Roxane Gay book club and enjoyed reading this. It did put into perspective my own childhood as well as my own parenting. I appreciated Ms. Ford‘s voice and the love as well as chaos that family gave her.
"Although the wind blows terribly here, the moonlight also leaks between the roof planks of this ruined house."
Izumi Shikibu
Ashley penned a transparent story that encapsulated love, belonging, forgiveness, resentment, poverty, incarceration, mental health, generational trauma & abuse.
bailedBy and large, I don‘t particularly enjoy reading childhood memoirs. Especially those with abuse. Does that stop me from trying to read them? No, it does not. This one is definitely not for me.
pickThis book is just incredible. I'll certainly be reading it again, but it is an exceptionally emotional read. So... Be ready for that.
#litsycats #catsoflitsy
pickI highly recommend this book 📖 Ashley C.Ford brought her full self to this work and told her story masterfully. I recommended also listening to the audiobook as there is a great interview at the end with the author and Clint Smith,where Ashley shares her writing process and shares how she processed her feeling and emotions during the writing of this book.
so-so#audiobook
Very vulnerable Memoir with trigger warnings. Based on the blurb, I expected more about her relationship with her father. Good overall, but a slow start.
Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir | 
