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Fatherless: A Memoir
This story begins with a phone call out of the a lawyer tells a writer that his ninety-six-year-old father, with whom he has had no contact since the age of three and whom he has twice tried to find without success, has just died, leaving him nothing. Half-reluctant, half-fascinated, both angry and curious, Keith Maillard begins to research his father’s life. The result is a suspenseful work of historical reconstruction—a social history often reading like a detective story—as well as a psychologically acute portrait of the impact of a father’s absence. Walking a tightrope between the known and the unknown, and following a trail that takes him from Vancouver to Montreal to his native Wheeling, West Virginia, Keith Maillard has pulled off a book that only a novelist of his stature could write.
240 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 30, 2020
Keith Maillard is a Canadian professor in British Columbia who emigrated to Canada from West Virginia in the early 1970’s. He’s a novelist - six or seven books - whose work I discovered about 20 years ago on a visit to Vancouver. I found his book “Gloria” in a local bookstore and literally couldn’t put it down. I’d be lugging it around while siteseeing - and it was NOT a small book. Anyway, I was able to add a new-to-me novelist to my list. I tracked down and enjoyed the other novels he wrote, particularly those set in West Virginia. Last year I read and reviewed “Twin Studies”, a sort of weird book, set in Vancouver and Medicine Hat.
Okay, all this is to explain how I became acquainted with Keith Maillard and his writing. His books are hard to find. And some are only issued in paper backs. A few are issued in ebook form and “Twin Studies” was only issued as an Audible book. This book, “Fatherless”, originally issued in Fall, 2019, was available in ebook form for $24 which seemed expensive but I like his writing so I splurged.
Keith Maillard grew up fatherless. His father, Gene Maillard, was estranged from his third wife, Keith’s mother, and contributed $22 per month for Keith’s care, as mandated by the divorce court. Payments stopped when Keith turned 18 in 1959, and Keith never met his father past the age of 2 or so. Keith was raised by his mother and her family after his parents’ divorce. But like many fatherless (or motherless) children, he grew up wanting to know about the man who wasn’t around to raise him. Also, from whom was he descended? Who were his “people”? In early middle age he married a woman with a young daughter, who he adopted and raised. Soon they had another daughter together. Keith went from being childless to being a father. He began wanting to know more about his own father. Then in the 1990s, he was contacted by a lawyer who told him that Eugene Maillard had died in California and had not left him anything in his will. Gene had died a rich man but left all his money to charity.
The rest of the book is devoted to finding the truth of Gene Maillard and his life. He discovered other Maillard family members, including an older half-brother. He found out about Gene’s musical career - he was a proficient hoofer and taught tap dancing to many children over the years. But no matter how many children he taught, he never made peace with Keith and his half brother or the two ex-wives he left, too.
Should you buy and read “Fatherless”? Well, the cost of $24 is more akin to the price of a memoir about Donald Trump. This book should be priced at, say, $13 or so. Also, and this is a biggie, aside from a picture of Eugene Maillard on the cover as a child, there are no photos of any of people Maillard writes about, which is inexcusable in a memoir. In fact, I deducted a star from the original 5 star rating. But “Fatherless” is very good read about a son searching for his history.
Okay, all this is to explain how I became acquainted with Keith Maillard and his writing. His books are hard to find. And some are only issued in paper backs. A few are issued in ebook form and “Twin Studies” was only issued as an Audible book. This book, “Fatherless”, originally issued in Fall, 2019, was available in ebook form for $24 which seemed expensive but I like his writing so I splurged.
Keith Maillard grew up fatherless. His father, Gene Maillard, was estranged from his third wife, Keith’s mother, and contributed $22 per month for Keith’s care, as mandated by the divorce court. Payments stopped when Keith turned 18 in 1959, and Keith never met his father past the age of 2 or so. Keith was raised by his mother and her family after his parents’ divorce. But like many fatherless (or motherless) children, he grew up wanting to know about the man who wasn’t around to raise him. Also, from whom was he descended? Who were his “people”? In early middle age he married a woman with a young daughter, who he adopted and raised. Soon they had another daughter together. Keith went from being childless to being a father. He began wanting to know more about his own father. Then in the 1990s, he was contacted by a lawyer who told him that Eugene Maillard had died in California and had not left him anything in his will. Gene had died a rich man but left all his money to charity.
The rest of the book is devoted to finding the truth of Gene Maillard and his life. He discovered other Maillard family members, including an older half-brother. He found out about Gene’s musical career - he was a proficient hoofer and taught tap dancing to many children over the years. But no matter how many children he taught, he never made peace with Keith and his half brother or the two ex-wives he left, too.
Should you buy and read “Fatherless”? Well, the cost of $24 is more akin to the price of a memoir about Donald Trump. This book should be priced at, say, $13 or so. Also, and this is a biggie, aside from a picture of Eugene Maillard on the cover as a child, there are no photos of any of people Maillard writes about, which is inexcusable in a memoir. In fact, I deducted a star from the original 5 star rating. But “Fatherless” is very good read about a son searching for his history.
January 9, 2020
I have mixed feelings about this book. It felt pointless for the first half as he recounts how he & his wife conducted research on his deceased father whom he didn’t know and who hadn’t wanted anything to do with him - seemed like something important to write for himself and his family, but not the general public. But Maillard is a very good writer and did eventually bring me around. Near the end, when speaking of being a father himself, he writes: “Being a father ... is more a matter of being there”, and that’s something I can really relate to.
April 9, 2023
hmm. it does feel like two different genres and it did take me a while to get used to the second half. but it is so heartbreaking and anything that moves me gets at LEAST three stars. extra star for the fact that hes a canadian ubc professor
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews