Fatherless Women: How We Change After We Lose Our Dads

by Clea Simon

"Elegant prose ... sheds new light on the father-daughter dynamic"
-Boston magazine
Praise for Fatherless WOMEN
"If it can be said about a book on loss, Fatherless Women is a pleasure to read. Clea Simon is a warm, honest, intelligent, and trustworthy guide, not only for grieving women but for the men who support them. Simon's insights about father-daughter relationships are profound."
-Neil Chethik, author of FatherLoss
"Clea Simon deepens our understanding of the complicated emotions daughters feel about fathers, both during life and especially after death. This book will help heal rifts and set stuck energies free."
-Beth Witrogen McLeod, author of
The Spiritual Journey of Love, Loss, and Renewal
"Unusually candid and often provocative . . . Simon's book is immensely thought-provoking about a topic that all of us will face."
-Pauline Boss, Ph.D., author of Ambiguous
Learning to Live with Unresolved Grief
There is a special bond between a father and a daughter, and when that bond is broken by death, a woman's life can change in profound and unexpected ways. Clea Simon, critically acclaimed author of Mad House, explores this crucial meeting point of grief and growth by delving into her own experience and those of other women to paint an illuminating portrait of the father-daughter relationship and its lifelong ramifications. Filled with moving stories of real women, this poignant, comforting, and insightful book paves the way for all women to make peace with the past, with the adults they have become, and to courageously face the what happens next?

Genres: Psychology, Mental Health, Nonfiction

260 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Boston Globe-bestselling author Clea Simon is the author of The Butterfly Trap, a sinister slow-build "he said/she said" that will definitely surprise you.

This follows Bad Boy Beat a fast-paced amateur sleuth mystery featuring a novice crime reporter with a nose for news who is convinced a series of street-level killings are connected.

In a different mood, Clea's most recent cozy is The Cat's Eye Charm, the fifth in her "Witch Cats of Cambridge" series.

She is also the author of the psychological suspense novels, Hold Me Down and World Enough, both named "Must Reads" by the Massachusetts Book Awards, as well as the dystopian Blackie and Care black cat series (The Ninth Life), the Dulcie Schwartz feline/academic mysteries (Shades of Grey), the Pru Marlowe pet noir mysteries (Dogs Don't Lie), and the Theda Krakow cats & crime & rock & roll mysteries (Mew is for Murder), as well as three nonfiction books: Mad House: Growing Up in the Shadow of Mentally Ill Siblings; Fatherless Women: How We Change After We Lose Our Dads; and The Feline Mystique: On the Mysterious Connection Between Women and Cats.

The recipient of multiple honors, including the Cat Writers Associations Presidents Award, she lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, with her husband, Jon Garelick, and their cat, Thisbe. Find her at Clea Simon.com

Reviews

[Maria Isabel Chang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book, not exactly what I was looking for since it did not address the kind of father-daughter relationship that I initially thought would be addressed, and I seriously think the author could have been more concise and less anecdotal. Nonetheless, I really think it could be a good guide for women who have lost their fathers through death.

[Niswat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know how much not having my father around messed up me and my sisters until I read this book. Now that I know some of the effects I can take preventative measures going forward in my life to make sure I don't get further messed up.

[Nickie Mariager-Lam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book as I have just recently lost my father myself, and I was hoping to find some kind of 'sisterhood' and joined experiences in this book of the changes we go through after the loss of our fathers.

Unfortunately, it didn't resonate with me for most of the time. As it was published 20 years ago and I'm only in my early 30's it might be that the book is more aimed at my mother's generation of women.

[Maria Perez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book, not exactly what I was looking for since it did not address the kind of father-daughter relationship that I initially thought would be addressed, and I seriously think the author could have been more concise and less anectodal. Nonetheless, I really think it could be a good guide for women who have lost their fathers through death.

[Bosco Raj · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author delves into many deep subjects, bringing up many valid insights. But in totality, her study lacked objective analysis in a scientific sense. 

[Andrea]

This is a clinical look at the father daughter relationship. I couldn't read it. This wasn't what I thought this book would be. I had to stop after 8 pages. I will not read the rest.

[Mary Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author is an excellent essayist. I like her non fiction better than her fiction. While my dad died twenty years ago, there are still some unresolved issues. Some of the things this author said helped me with the healing. I know I am not alone; others bear this type of pain. And it goes beyond the loss of one family member. Families change and not always for the better with the loss of a father.
I wish the author had put in more about siblings, and how they change. One lone example comes late in the book with interviews with a woman called Bette. As the author says, “Bette’s family is real, not ideal.” The same could be said for my family. We were far from ideal. The loss of my father opened up deep scars that separated forever my mother, my sister and me.
As I read this book, I tried to understand what happened to us. Some answers don’t dome that easily.

[Julie Stevenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fatherless Women was an excellent representation of various areas in my life following my father's death. It helped me to understand better why I made some of the decisions I did, both while my father was alive and after his passing. I now understand myself and my actions a little better too. Great read - a must for women that have lost their fathers.

[Sherry Fox · Rating 2 out of 5]

A comforting book to read when my father passed away after a long battle within cancer.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A challenging read at times but so many questions answered and it is comforting to know I am not alone in this new journey of my life.