Father's Day

by Simon Van Booy

The moving story of an orphaned girl named Harvey and the troubled uncle who raises her—an unforgettable tale of loss and redemption from the author of The Illusion of Separateness.

At the age of six, a little girl named Harvey learns that her parents have died in a car accident. As she struggles to understand, a kindly social worker named Wanda introduces her to her only living her uncle Jason, a disabled felon with a violent past and a criminal record. Despite his limitations—and his resistance—Wanda follows a hunch and cajoles Jason into becoming her legal guardian, convinced that each may be the other’s last chance.

Moving between past and present, Father’s Day weaves together the story of Harvey’s childhood and her life as a young woman in Paris, as she awaits her uncle’s arrival for a Father’s Day visit. To mark the occasion, Harvey has planned a series of gifts for Jason—all leading to a revelation she believes will only deepen their bond.

With extraordinary empathy and emotional impact, the award-winning writer Simon Van Booy has crafted a simple yet luminous novel of loss and transcendence, second chances and a breakthrough work from one of our most gifted chroniclers of the human heart.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Family, Book Club, Adult Fiction, Novels

291 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 26, 2016

About the author

Simon Van Booy is the award-winning, bestselling author of more than a dozen books for adults and children, including The Illusion of Separateness and The Presence of Absence. Simon is the editor of three volumes of philosophy and has written for The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, and the BBC. His books have been translated into many languages and optioned for film. Raised in rural North Wales, he currently lives in New York where he is also a book editor and a volunteer E.M.T. crew chief.

Reviews

[Angela M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This could have been a too sentimental, overly unrealistic story in a the hands of a less skilled writer but it wasn't. That's not to say that it wasn't sentimental . It was , but for me the sentimentality was just enough to get me . Perhaps the twist at the end was a bit unrealistic, but I was glad that I didn't quite guess it . What I found to be realistic were the characters that I quickly became attached to and their genuine relationship.

This is the story of a man fighting his demons, an angry man who has been fighting his whole life from the time he was a child up against his abusive , alcoholic father to the time when his rage sends him to jail for blinding a man in a fight. Jason in spite of the trouble he's been in , is essentially a good man . He cared for his brother Steve as children when they lived a less than desirable home life with a tyrant of an alcoholic father and a mother who didn't protect them. When we meet him he's faced with a huge dilemma- whether to take custody of his brother's daughter, six year old Harvey, orphaned when her parents are killed in a car crash .( This is in the second sentence of the Goodreads book description so I don't consider it a spoiler.)

Some of my Goodreads friends who read my reviews will know I've got a soft spot for stories from the point of view of children, so of course I was immediately taken with Harvey. But I was also taken with the wonderful person that Harvey has become at 26. She is now living and working in Paris and planning a Father's Day surprise for Jason when he comes to visit. The story alternates in time and place starting with New York and then Paris but it moves back and forth to various times which we are taken to as Jason opens up a new gift each day that brings a particular reminiscence in her childhood. I loved this slow telling of their story and was particularly touched by the things that Harvey remembers, the things that represented important moments in their relationship. I thought that the biggest gift that Harvey gave to Jason was making a meeting that happens between Jason and someone from his past. This was revealed with one of the gifts and took place years before .I'll leave it at that so if you read this, you can discover this beautiful thing for yourself.

I thought this was an especially heart felt story after I read an article entitled, "Raising a Princess Single Handedly" ( NYT , 6/26/09 ) by Simon Van Booy who writes about raising his daughter after his wife passed away. This is my first book by this author not because he wasn't on my radar . I own one of his other books , The Illusion of Separateness and just haven't gotten around to reading it but I will .


Thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss.

[Cecily · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Disappointment later on is better than no hope to begin with.”
In October ‘22, I first encounter van Booy and immediately fell in love with his plain but poetic prose, poignant characters, and understated narratives. His style and themes made him feel like a close cousin of many of the contemporary Irish writers I love. In October ‘23, I read this novel, and was hugely disappointed. There is some lyrical writing and some poignant scenes. The underlying story is sweet (rather too sweet for my taste), but there was too much that was contrived and implausible.

Outline - no spoilers

The story is told from the point of view of Harvey: as a child of about six, with her parents in NY state, and twenty years later, when her father visits her in Paris. Her childhood is realistically ordinary: neither rich nor poor, nor especially happy or sad, though there are hints of secrets and sadness that the six-year old doesn’t understand.

As an adult, she’s assembled items linked to key events and connections with her father:
“It was difficult to walk a straight path without being caught in the background of someone else’s memories.”

Between the main two timelines, something dramatic happens. The gaps are gradually filled in.


Image: Two abstract figures, one holding a heart, either taken from, or to put in, the heart-shaped hole of the other. By Sasha Tverdaya. (Source)

Father’s day is not a single day

Families are born, and made, and reconfigured. Their many varieties are increasingly visible: single parents, gay, adoptive, IVF and surrogacy, shared parenting, mixed-race, mixed-faith, blended, and found family of friends.

Part way through, I realised I’d been thinking of my late father a lot recently. Perhaps that’s subconsciously what prompted me to read this, especially as it was approaching the fifth anniversary of his unexpected death. I found that oddly comforting, even though I didn’t enjoy the book.

My father was a complex man, and although we never doubted our love for each other, we were both aware of each other’s shortcomings and issues we disagreed about.

Gentle difficulties and misunderstandings are portrayed really well: things that upset, anger, or puzzle young Harvey are often revealed to involve love, sacrifice, and pain, endured for her benefit. But not always, because all parents make mistakes. Redemption is possible, though. (There is a Prodigal Son angle, if you want a Biblical slant.)

See also

• Better van Booy, imo: five longish short stories, Love Begins in Winter, which I reviewed HERE. Ducks and birds are frequently mentioned, as in this novel, though I’m not sure of the symbolism.

• When reading this novel, I read an unrelated short story, Importance by Manuel Mujica Lainez, which I reviewed HERE. It is an exploration of an idea that van Booy describes thus:
“Ghosts... are not the people who've died but the people who won't.”

Quotes

• “All life is pieced together from memory where nothing is ever certain, even feeling.”

• “She was told to smile because in pictures it’s how your supposed to feel that counts.”

• “She had met many children whose lives had broken into pieces that would not fit back together.”

I don’t believe

This is for my own reference and contains plot spoilers, as well as criticisms that might spoil the book for those who loved it.



• Even for a social worker about to retire, Wanda was too reckless. Surely she would have been found out and there would have been consequences for leaving a child with an alcoholic loner who’d been in prison for assault?

• Jason was too much of a caricature: both his good and bad sides.

• Would a company pay a fairly ordinary 26-year old graphic designer to move from the US to Paris?

• The final revelation (Harvey was the biological daughter of Rita - and Jason) was predictable, implausible, and a hugely convenient coincidence. Worst of all, it undermines what I thought was the message of the story.



Although I didn’t enjoy this novel, Love Begins in Winter was so good, that I will read van Booy again. But not yet.

[Larry H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six-year-old Harvey (an odd name for a girl, but it is what it is) is living the life of a typical child when her world is turned upside down, with the sudden death of her parents. The machinations of Wanda, a seasoned social worker, lead Harvey to her uncle Jason, her father's older brother, whose troubled past and criminal history kept him a stranger from his family.

Jason is utterly unprepared to become a father. Lonely, reeling from a traumatic childhood and a difficult adulthood, and living with a disability, he has resigned himself to a life of anger, of expressing his frustrations as they occur. He has never expected to amount to much of anything, and never expected anyone to depend on him. Yet something in Harvey touches his heart, and even though he feels he is no match for the needs and mood swings of a young girl, particularly one who has seen so much tragedy at such a young age, little by little he lets his guard down and lets Harvey in.

At times, like any child, Harvey is more perceptive to Jason's vulnerability, yet other times she is utterly childlike, saying what she feels when she feels it without consideration of how Jason might react. And while Jason may be different than the fathers of most of her friends, and their life together is difficult at times, she starts to feel safe with him, and recognize that she is as much a help to him as he is to her.

Can a person who has convinced himself he is unworthy of love and affection allow himself to depend on those emotions? Do we recognize love as we feel it, or does it take time and perspective to help us realize and appreciate it? Are we changed by those we love as much as we change them? Simon Van Booy's beautiful and poignant Father's Day is a portrait of the sacrifices we make for those we care about, and how we may not realize until much later how much those sacrifices mean.

The book shifts between Harvey and Jason's tentative steps towards becoming a family and the challenges they face (some of their own making), and Harvey's reflections some years later as she is working in Paris and awaiting a visit from her father. Given the circumstances that brought them together, and the difficulties both had depending on others, theirs is an emotional story, but one that is uplifting and moving, and demonstrates how the beauty of perspective can show us just how much our actions truly mean to another.

I've been a huge fan of Van Booy since I read his exquisite story collection Love Begins in Winter . I love the way he imbues his characters with shades of grace even while they are flawed, and the emotions his writing provokes are truly memorable. Father's Day is a sweet and moving book, and it certainly made me miss my own father all the more as I read this.

See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were many moments where I was truly moved by this story of an improbable man and young girl who find themselves navigating life together as father and daughter due to tragic circumstances. Their relationship felt very authentic to me. I loved the rapport that grew between them as their relationship developed. The story is wonderfully narrated by Bronson Pinchot - he acts all the characters with accents, and more importantly, sensitivity of feeling.

Standout Quotes:

"He felt that something had come to an end, yet everything was going on around him as normal [...] he wondered if he should have tried to enjoy things more, marveling at the finality of moments he recognized as happiness."

"In the shallow waters of sleep."

"Jason used to hold his brother's hand. He considered how memories hold our lives in place but weigh nothing and cannot be seen or touched."

Then, there's THIS.... I teared up again while I typed:

"Remember the time you woke up screaming one night, Harvey? And I carried you out to the driveway in your 'Hello Kitty' pajamas and we went all the way to the City, then drove all the way around Times Square and I opened the sunroof so the car could fill up with light?"

Finally... "She wondered, as she would for the rest of her life, if, in those final moments she passed over her mother's heart like the shadow of something in flight."

Harvey longed to communicate with her late mother and "let her know about the man who became her father and that her suffering had not been in vain and all the love she had withheld, that was lost in death had found its way back into the world and was undiminished."

[Roger Brunyate · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Father's Day Fable

Anyone who has read Simon Van Booy's two previous novels or exquisite short stories will know his style. Short declarative sentences, with few subsidiary clauses; adjectives and adverbs serving a precise purpose or omitted entirely; few Latinate words. Not everyone will like it; it is language stripped to its bare essentials. I find it refreshing though: clear cool water on a hot day. Here is how this latest book begins:

Harvey was born in a redbrick hospital on a hill. It was the hardest day of her mother's life and she cried for a long time after.

There was a park near the hospital where children went on swings and ran away from their parents. Harvey's mother used to go there when she was pregnant. She sat on a bench and ate little things from her purse.

There was also a duck pond that froze in winter. People came early, in twos and threes. They held hands going around in loose circles. There was no music, just human voices and the clopping of skates.

When Harvey was old enough to feed the ducks…

Yes, it is the story of a young girl growing up, written in the language one reads to children. Not a fairy story exactly, set in the real world, but with the air of a fable. This continues for 18 pages with the girl growing up on Long Island, an only child, looked after by loving parents. Then when Harvey is six, a new section begins, marked "Twenty years later." Harvey is now working in Paris, living in a small apartment and awaiting the arrival of her father on what is clearly his first visit. That visit, and the memories of the rest of her childhood and adolescence, will be the subject for the rest of the book. And surprisingly, although Harvey is now an adult, the slightly childish tone continues. For this is still a fable, a fable about fatherhood, as simple in its way as Beauty and the Beast, but remarkably moving.

If you haven't read the back cover or product description of the book, I suggest you stop reading now. For Van Booy reveals things much more slowly and carefully than his publicists. He will tease you by mentioning that Harvey has been doing some digging, and knows a secret about her father that she means to discuss with him during his stay. If you have read the blurb, though, you may guess what it is. The man Harvey calls "Dad" is not in fact her birth father, but his black-sheep brother, a convicted felon forced into taking care of the girl after her parents were killed in a car crash. Over the course of the next few days, as they take little excursions around Paris and her dad opens the small presents that Harvey has assembled for him, we will learn of that difficult upbringing, the almost magical intervention of a fairy godmother in the shape of a Social Services worker named Wanda, and the slow redemption born of the love between father and child. But this is not Harvey's secret; of course she had known about her parents' death all along. When the secret does emerge at the very end, it is something both beautiful and unexpected—too contrived for a realistic novel, for sure, but the perfect bow to top the Father's Day gift that Simon Van Booy has written here.

[Erika Robuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a long-time fan of Simon Van Booy; his novel, EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL BEGAN AFTER, is one of my favorite books. His latest novel FATHER'S DAY moves between the present and past of Harvey, a young American woman working in Paris, and Jason, the man who adopted her as a child. This juxtaposition of time and point of view gives the narrative a natural balance and momentum.

I had the pleasure of attending Van Booy's reading at Politics and Prose last week, and I was struck by several things:
***An exploration of the origins and inheritance of violence and its manifestations inspired the book.
***To inform the novel, Van Booy became a "method actor," taking on the character of the tattoo-covered ex-con while traveling through Paris.
***The warm, humble spirit that infuses Van Booy's fiction is authentically his.

If reading makes us more empathetic people, FATHER'S DAY feeds that development by giving us a wealth of complicated characters doing their best in difficult situations. Van Booy has a gift for making the small, everyday acts of his characters sacred, and through their actions and choices, they are both revealed and redeemed. Once the threads of the novel come together, a total portrait emerges--one so clear, satisfying, and emotional it lingers long after the pages are closed.

If you enjoy novels of inheritance, family issues, and father-daughter ties, you will love FATHER'S DAY.

[Jessica J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everything Beautiful Began After was one of the most affecting books I read in 2011. I was in a weird place in my life when I stumbled across it and picked it up based solely on the title. It hit all the right nerves inside my body in the right way and I truly connected to it. It didn’t hurt that Simon Van Booy knew how to do flowery prose in an effective and not overly syrupy way.

Sooooo, I picked up this ARC off of Edelweiss based solely on the fact that I loved that first book so much.

I wanna start by saying that you shouldn’t read the marketing copy for this book because it kind of killed most of the suspense for me. I didn’t even look at the marketing copy until I was maybe 30 pages in and was really disappointed that I had. It gave away a plot point that I suspect van Booy wanted to be a little more of a surprise.

This book is about a young girl, Harvey, who grows up, moves to Paris, and prepares for a special visit on Father’s Day. The narrative bounces back and forth, exploring Harvey’s difficult childhood as present-day Father’s Day nears and Harvey plans a few surprises of her own.

This is meant to be a touching examination of what it means to be a father, as well as a rumination on topics such as forgiveness and second chances. But, for me, it was one giant cliché after another after another. The characters felt so very cookie-cutter, the situation they were in felt so overdone, and the writing itself didn’t sparkle the way I’d expect Simon Van Booy prose to sparkle. Reading this book was a bit of a drag, and I found myself disappointed, struggling to keep going. My interest honestly petered out about 2/3 of the way through the e-galley. Sorry, Simon.

[Jim Puskas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here we have a gentle parable: The wayward son, detested by one and all, upon the tragic death of his honored brother, is called upon to adopt and care for his brother's orphaned child — a child who will become the means to his redemption and his return to respectable society. On the face of it, little more than an extended cliché. But of course, this is Simon Van Booy and I suppose he would make a compelling novel out of Goldilocks. Under Van Booy's pen, Jason, the self-destructive, angry, crippled ex-convict emerges as a complex, nuanced personality whose innate decency has been submerged under the baggage of a violent, dysfunctional parentage and hobbled by his deep-set rage. Time, circumstance and a couple of fortunate breaks (along with the need to live up to the fatherhood role he has stumbled into) conspire to save him from himself.
The book has garnered sharply mixed reviews; it is, after all, just a sentimental novelette, or at best a celebration of the glorious gift of fatherhood. But it's a tale that I believe is most likely to be embraced by those among us who have been deprived of conventionally loving parenthood. And in these troubled times, an emotionally comforting feel-good story is welcome.

[Shawn Mooney (Shawn Breathes Books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harvey is an adorable, rather bratty six-year-old girl when her parents are killed in a car accident. Aside from ancient maternal grandparents, her closest relative is her dad's brother, Jason, who has refused to have anything to do with family for far longer than Harvey is old. He's been in prison for violent assault, has lost a leg in a motorcycle accident, and ekes out a reclusive living selling stuff on eBay. A wonderful social worker reaches out to him about taking custody of his niece. Jason's smokey-voiced scoffs, refusals and protestations very, very gradually give way.

I am a sucker for stories about hard-assed characters who get dragged kicking and screaming into tender places. (Ernest Gaines's 'A Lesson Before Dying' is a great example.) I like being made to work hard to embrace unlikeable characters: when they break through, I break open. That is basically the story here: the relationship between Harvey and Jason ripped my heart out. The novel put me through my paces before I got to tear up.

I listened to it on audio, which, with the proviso mentioned below, I highly recommend. The narrator, Bronson Pinchot, added another layer of feeling to the tale with the Long-Island-accented macho voice he gave Jason--absolutely perfect--and Harvey's little-girl voice. The vocal aspect was so key to my experience that I'm not at all sure how much I'd have enjoyed it solely as a text.

Father's Day is not without its flaws, though. A quarter to a third of the story concerns Jason visiting Harvey twenty years later in Paris, where she lives, for Father's Day. This part felt unsatisfying and totally extraneous. Harvey has prepared a series of Father's Day presents for Jason, one of which he opens each day of his visit, triggering another narrative dip back into the real story, two decades earlier. The hokey gifts embarrass Jason, and struck me as nothing but clunky narrative devices. My dissatisfaction about the Paris part of the novel was exacerbated by Pinchot's mystifying choice to barely age the adult Harvey's voice at all.

Finally, a plot twist is introduced at the last possible narrative moment, which left me cold. It too was totally unnecessary, and nearly spoiled my overall take on the novel.

Yet I still highly recommend this imperfect little novel, for its pitch-perfect, unsentimental, tender heart: a desperate little girl holding her wee hand out to a broken man, him slowly, warily reaching back.

[LindaJ^ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book after attending a book reading and Q&A with the author. The author read two or three chapters that concerned the social worker Wanda trying to get Jason to want to become the guardian of Harvey, the six-year old niece he did not know he had, after her parents were killed in an auto accident. I was surprised when I read the book that a lot happened before we learn about the parents' death, so the first twist was revealed by the author (and the marketing).

The meat of the story concerns Harvey and Jason in Paris, where Harvey works and Jason comes to visit the week preceding Father's Day. Harvey has put together a package with little gifts - a baseball, a skull keychain, etc - that are symbols for important times in their life. She has one last thing - an envelope - that she holds for last. She wants him to know that he doesn't have to keep that secret any longer. As she shows him Paris and each gift is revealed, Jason remembers events from her growing up and how she caused him to change. The second twist is at the end. There's a few subtle hints before it happens but it's a good one.

This story doesn't feel particularly realist but that's okay. The social worker seems just too good to be true but one can hope she isn't. The book is, I think, deeper than it appears on first impression. The characters are more complex than is first apparent, even those like Jason's father who at first just seems to be the abusive, alcoholic father.

It's a heartwarming, lovely, feel good story with a lot of gritty backfill. It's not quite a 4* read but because it's Father's Day tomorrow and this is a lovely father/daughter story, it gets rounded up not down!

[Shelley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Moving story? Not even close. Unforgettable tale of loss and redemption? Also a big gigantic nope. I would rather listen to Steven Wright read the Apple terms of service for iPhone updates. The book is just boring with characters that I couldn't give a rat's ass about or connect with. As for the "twist" at the end, get out of here with that and it wasn't hard at all to figure out. It's a Jodi Picoult move that doesn't work for her either. Had this not been a library book it would have met it's very violent demise like the wood chipper scene from Fargo.

[Lori L (She Treads Softly) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Father's Day by Simon Van Booy is a very highly recommended story about a father and daughter that follows two timelines.

The novel opens as Harvey, a little girl, is remembering scenes around her as a very young girl. Then we jump twenty years ahead into the future when Harvey at age 26 is living in Paris, and planning a special week of activities for her father, who is coming to visit her over Father's Day. Harvey has a box of gifts that symbolize some important moment in their lives together. The last gift she has will free her father from a secret he's been keeping for years.

Harvey's parents were been killed in a car accident when she was six and she ends up living with her father's estranged older brother, Jason. Jason is a disabled ex-con and a recovering alcoholic who has anger management issues. He reluctantly becomes Harvey's father - and rises to the occasion. These chapters follow the building relationship between Jason and Harvey and notes important events in their lives together as Harvey grows up.

The alternating present day chapters take place in Paris and follow the father and daughter as they enjoy each others company and Harvey plans special activities for them to enjoy. The affection Harvey feels for Jason is palatable; clearly he has been a great father for her. The alternating chapters telling their story as she grows up show what Jason has done and sacrificed to care for Harvey. She didn't fully comprehend some of the things he did until later, as an adult.

Father's Day is a wonderful, emotionally honest, poignant novel about a unique family. And yes, I did shed some tears as I was reading. Jason is trying very hard to be a good father, but, it becomes clear that he perhaps learned how to be a good father from being a good big brother. The bond between Jason and Harvey is as strong as any father/daughter relationship. The two build a relationship and a future.

The writing is incredible and perfectly captures the relationship between the two. I loved Van Booy's The Illusion of Separateness and this adoration continues with Father's Day. Again, it feels like each word, each sentence has been very carefully planned. The language and sentences are seemingly simple, but express a world of emotion. (I like the idea that this story is reminiscent of a fable.) This is another thoughtful, sensitive, intelligent novel that you need to savor, as the depth of the relationship between the two slowly unfolds and builds.

Disclosure: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved listening to this book! It's hard to know if I would have felt so connected to all the characters if I had read it because the reader was absolutely amazing and awesome! A simple story told quite elegantly of the transformative power of loving a child as a parent! The author has described the characters quite well as I have worked with a marginalized population affected by generational addiction for the last 21 years. Whether it is a contrived maudlin story I don't care I just enjoyed it!

[Jenifer Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I am now a blubbering idiot walking down the street as I finish this wonderful audiobook. I love the story and the characters so much. My only complaint is that it is too short and I miss them terribly. The narrator of this book was wonderful!

[Ti · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Short of It:

A quiet non-traditional story about a father’s love for his daughter.

The Rest of It:

Harvey is just a young girl when her parents are killed in an accident. After the accident, Harvey is placed with Jason, her uncle, who was recently released from prison for a crime he committed as a teen. The two have a lot to learn and with the help of his social worker, Jason learns that fathers aren’t perfect and that the love of a child is something you have to hold dear.

I really enjoyed this story even though I found it to be very different from what I’ve previously read by this author. The language isn’t as poetic as his short story collections. The story is told plainly but the tone and quiet nature of the story really appealed to me.

I enjoyed reading about this unlikely pair. Jason is a little rough around the edges but charming and remorseful for his past actions. He comes across as very genuine and sincere. Harvey is mature and wise and the two seem to understand each other, which makes the story work so well.

In the end, all the pieces come together and what you have is a satisfying read.

For more reviews, visit my blog: Book Chatter.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not my first book that I've read by this author and won't be my last. This writer has the unique ability to grasp me, and reel me in, almost as if he's sitting next to me and speaking. How can you not read his work and not think that he's lived this. A heartwarming story that brought tears to my eyes in so many places. Jason and Harvey lives could have ended up so differently had they not found each other. Heart felt, conversational, quiet, with a twist. How could we ask for anything more?

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book I read by Van Booy and I am in love. Reading this book was the first time in recent memory that I have felt that real, true thrill of reading, that excitement to get to the book whenever I could. The characters, Jason and Harvery, are absolutely real, quirky and unforgettable, the writing lyrical, the story deeply compelling. I am giving it a 5 though technically I would give it a 4.5 because a very wonky thing happens within a few pages of the end that I find rather untenable but otherwise, I highly recommend reading this book. I cannot wait to read the rest of Van Booy's work.

[Marlene England · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm all about a good family story - and this one IS good, just not as exceptional as I'd hoped it would be. Interesting characters, some poignant scenes - although a few things didn't quite ring true for me - and a heartwarming look at what it means to be family and the sacrifices you make for those you love. To me, the plot twist at the end seemed unnecessary and a bit contrived. All in all, though, a pleasant read.

[Rina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Als Harveys Eltern tödlich verunglücken, wird sie von ihrem Onkel, Jason, adoptiert. Jason neigt zu Wutausbrüchen, ist vorbestraft und ist eigentlich alles andere als ein perfekter Adoptivvater. In "Mit jedem Jahr" erzählt Simon van Booy, wie Jason und Harvey zu einer Familie werden, wie sie einander helfen, ihre Probleme zu bekämpfen.
Das ist das erste Buch von Simon van Booy, das ich gelesen habe, aber sicherlich nicht das letzte. Ich fand seinen Schreibstil sehr schön, zart und elegant.
Die Geschichte wird aus zwei Perspektiven erzählt und springt immer zwischen Gegenwart und Vergangenheit; man hat aber trotzdem kein Problem der Geschichte zu folgen.
Es gibt sowohl lustige als auch traurige Momente, man wird von dem Buch emotional berührt - es ist ein sehr schönes Buch über die Eltern-Kind-Liebe.
Ich kann aber dem Buch nicht das volle Sternzahl vergeben und muss einen Stern für das letzte Geheimnis abziehen - ich fand diesen Geheimnis in diesem Buch fehl am Platz.

[Scriptor Ignotus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I watched Simon van Booy give a TED Talk on YouTube about novel writing, and I found him sufficiently charming, eccentric, and similar in appearance to Johnny Depp that I decided to give one of his novels a try. I have mixed feelings about this one.

I was put off at first by the sparseness of the prose. I’ve read unadorned writing before and seen it used to great effect, but here I found it difficult to connect with the characters through chapter after chapter of flat, declarative sentences. Harvey and Jason eventually got through to me, though; before I knew it, those declarative sentences had accumulated into a believable portrait of an endearingly dysfunctional family. There are some interesting twists and turns, but these do little to elevate the novel.

It was one of those books that you enjoy while you’re reading it, but you’re not sure if you’ll remember much about it in a month or two.

[Jenny Moye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this author. Periodically there is a sentence that is so beautiful and alive with sweetness. I didn't love the neatness of the end but the characters and the tension in the plot kept me engaged.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, great book about the love between a daughter and her father, and how they helped each other find their way through the world. My only complaint is that it ended abruptly. But this is a good book!

[Grace Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

At heart the the author portrays the mercy needed for his characters to survive and grow in this world. This is another thoughtful book that allows the reader to explore difficult lives in a way that honors each character's life stories.

[Kaloyana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars. It's beautifully written, but too dramatic story. I still think Simon Van Booy is better at short stories.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Brenda]

This book! I loved it. The cover was a bit misleading; I was kind of expecting something cheesy and melodramatic but it was not. It was lovely and beautifully written. Both heartbreaking and heartwarming, it was a pleasant surprise.

[Elly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I read for Simon Van Booy. A great story although a bit overly sentimental, however I read that the author’s wife had died, and he was left to raise their little daughter alone, and I felt more appreciation for the story.
The book has an easy writing style. When I learned that there is a twist at the end, I guessed correctly what it might be, however I was not sure how the author will execute the idea.
3.5 stars rounded up.

[AJ Sanfratella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anything about redemption and fatherhood will get me every time.

[DarthVixReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would like to send a HUGE thank you to the author, the publisher Harper Collins and TLC Book Tours for having me on the tour and giving me chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Father’s Day is an adult contemporary book about a young girl Harvey, who when her parents tragically die in a car accident is taken in (much to his surprise) by her estranged uncle. And that’s basically all that I am willing to say about the plot other than what you read in the description above because I don’t want to give anything away about this book as it was a wonderful read.

When I first started Father’s Day, I wasn’t much a fan of the POV but as I kept reading I got used to it and it definitely drew me in. I started getting into this book in the first chapter and it held my attention all the way through. It was SO hard to put down. As a daddy’s little girl myself, I found this book to be tender and emotional. I absolutely loved it, it enchanted me from start to finish. It’s hard to describe my feelings about this book because it was such an emotional read for me but that in itself is a sign of a great book and one that I will think about for years.

I loved reading about Harvey and Jason and seeing their bond strengthen over the years and through the experiences they shared together both good and bad. After I got used to the POV I came to appreciate it because it gave me a sense of understanding of what both Jason and Harvey were feeling about the other person. Towards the end of the book, I couldn’t help but cry (just read it already!). I loved this book, I thought it was beautiful, tender and just special.

Five stars and a recommendation from me!

[Anne Slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

THANK YOU, Jim

Although the switching back and forth between points of view was a little confusing at first, I began to think of the child Harvey's place in life, in the book, and then accepted them.

Harvey (WHY is she called "Harvey" ?-- I found that unnecessary) is so young at the beginning, her understanding of who she is, who her father is... Or isn't.. that the simplicity of her young persona is acceptable to the reader. Her recollections and discoveries (vaguely and then more clearly fore-shadowed) about herself and Jason (Dad) ................ I really find it hard to write anything more lest I give away the dénouement, so cleverly painted. There is so much depicted of how these two people get to know and love each other......
The greater part of the book concerns Harvey and Jason's relationship and self-understanding, but my very favorite part involves planting flowers, sunstroke, the feared and avoided neighbors.... I hate to call this book "charming" lest you think it is treacly. It's not. It also has a couple of unnecessary but revealing long asides (Jason goes fishing) which add to the reader accepting the whole thing as a neat (tidy) slice of life.
Again, thank you, Jim!