I’m not sure if this is the right title for this post and this selection of books – but if you read them you’ll know what I mean! All the books in the collection below have a similar feeling to them, whether that’s in their characters, themes, or settings – and they’re all bloody good reads too.
If you like books that are dystopian and through that examine the role of the father or the role of women then this selection is for you.
The Water Cure – Sophie Mackintosh (fiction)
What’s it about? Three girls, Grace Lia and Sky live with their parents on what they think is an island, quarantined from a world plagued by disease and violence. Their mother and father subject them to ‘therapies’ to keep them safe. They play host to damaged women who come to them from across the sea, ruined by men. Then one day, their father King is killed.
Why might I like it? The Water Cure is an exceptional work of fiction, something totally original that explores the plight of women and the innate risks they face. It also deals with dysfunctional families, love, rejection, pain and death. It makes you wonder whether the atrocities we carry out against one another as humans are ‘natural’ or ‘nurtured’ and how gendered responses and roles define our lives.
You might also like:
The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver (fiction)
What’s it about? The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it — from garden seeds to Scripture — is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family’s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.
Why might I like it? Kingsolver can write women. The story is unique and beautifully told through their eyes. We explore the relationships between the sisters and the relationships they have with their parents. The dynamic with their father is particularly interesting.
You might also like
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood (fiction)
What’s it about? Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. In a world not too far away from our own, women have become with wife, handmaid or servant. Offred remembers the time before, the daughter that was stolen from her and finds a spark to fight against the system.
Why might I like it? Although not directly dealing with a dysfunctional father the book does deal with the huge issue of patriarchy, the oppression of women and feminism. Masterfully told by Atwood is it a must-read piece, now more than ever.
And finally you might also like:
Daddy Issues – Katherine Angel (non-fiction)
What’s it about? In the wake of the #MeToo movement and Trump’s presidency Katherine Angel explores the resurgence of the patriarchy and the role of “daddy” in modern feminism. Using reference points in film, literature, journalism, art and politics, Angel unpicks a classic Freudian view of the father/daughter relationship.
Why might I like it? Angel asks how we use fathers to help dismantle the patriarchy and examines the roles society places on both fathers and daughters that ultimately perpetuate the oppression of women. Her insight into traditional male behaviours is fascinating, for example the way father’s are expected to immediately dislike daughter’s lovers has roots in the history of the father protecting his property i.e. his daughter’s virginity.
Have you read any of the books listed above? What did you think? Have you read any others that you think should go in this collection? Let me know in the comments below!
Secondary Reading 