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A review by teamoxfordcomma
Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Wow. What a memoir. Perhaps the best one I've ever read.
I was lucky enough to obtain an ALC through Libro.fm's bookseller program, and the audiobook is read by Ford herself. The experience of hearing Ford read her own words, her own story, sent this already excellent piece of writing into the stratosphere (at least for this reader). The author knows how to read their own words, y'know? And with a gifted wordsmith like Ashley C. Ford, this feels even more true.
This is not a memoir for the faint of heart. This is not a memoir for those looking for a frollicking beach read. That's not to say the whole book is downer-after-downer-after-downer – there are moments of levity and hope, humor and irony – but this is a book of searing honesty. It unapologetically reckons with the nasty underbelly of life, and it is masterful in doing so.
I would have enjoyed this book based on Ford's writing alone. Her sentences weave together to erect images and emotions only able to be wrought by the best of writers, and there were several passages I rewound just to listen to them again, and again, and again. But I also loved this memoir for the story it contains, the vulnerability with which Ford shares her experiences with some of the hardest things this life has to offer. In the span of the book, I raged, I mourned, I smiled, and I cried.
If there ever was a must-read memoir, I would wager to say this is it.
I was lucky enough to obtain an ALC through Libro.fm's bookseller program, and the audiobook is read by Ford herself. The experience of hearing Ford read her own words, her own story, sent this already excellent piece of writing into the stratosphere (at least for this reader). The author knows how to read their own words, y'know? And with a gifted wordsmith like Ashley C. Ford, this feels even more true.
This is not a memoir for the faint of heart. This is not a memoir for those looking for a frollicking beach read. That's not to say the whole book is downer-after-downer-after-downer – there are moments of levity and hope, humor and irony – but this is a book of searing honesty. It unapologetically reckons with the nasty underbelly of life, and it is masterful in doing so.
I would have enjoyed this book based on Ford's writing alone. Her sentences weave together to erect images and emotions only able to be wrought by the best of writers, and there were several passages I rewound just to listen to them again, and again, and again. But I also loved this memoir for the story it contains, the vulnerability with which Ford shares her experiences with some of the hardest things this life has to offer. In the span of the book, I raged, I mourned, I smiled, and I cried.
If there ever was a must-read memoir, I would wager to say this is it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Child abuse
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, and Racism
Minor: Child death