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Father of the Rain

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Father of the Rain

By: Lily King
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
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About this listen

Winner of the New England Book Award for Fiction

From Lily King, beloved author of Writers and Lovers, Father of the Rain is a mesmerising novel about the complexity and power of familial love.

Gardiner Amory’s life is reeling – Nixon is being impeached, his wife is leaving him and his worldview is rapidly becoming outdated. His daughter, Daley, has spent her life negotiating her parents’ conflicting worlds: the liberal realm of her mother and the conservative, liquor-soaked life of her father. But when the pair divorces, Gardiner’s basest impulses are unleashed in a deluge, and the chasm between all of them widens.

As she reaches adulthood, Daley rejects her father’s prejudices and embarks on her own life – until Gardiner hits rock bottom. Returning home to help her father get sober, Daley risks everything, including a chance at love, in an attempt to repair a trust that was broken long ago . . .

'A gripping epic about a father and daughter that plumbs the dark side of a family riven by addiction and mental illness' - Entertainment Weekly

 Coming of Age Family Life Genre Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature

Critic reviews

A gripping epic about a father and daughter that plumbs the dark side of a family riven by addiction and mental illness.
Brilliant . . . An absorbing, insightful story written in cool, polished prose right to the last conflicted line.
Spellbinding . . . You won't be able to stop reading.
King is a beautiful writer, with equally strong gifts for dialogue and internal monologue.
Haunting, incisive . . . brilliant.
Luminous . . . Uplifing . . . Fresh, with vividly drawn characters.
Fierce.
A big, powerful punch of a novel.
Richly satisfying. (Richard Russo)
All stars
Most relevant
I've read this book in it's entirety and it's so moving. The characters feel so real. This is an amazing narration and you won't be able to stop listening or stop thinking about it.

Incredible

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This is my third King novel and although I enjoyed each of them I find it frustrating how passive all of her female protagonists are. In fact they are all very similar characters and seem like pillion passengers in their stories… I want to reach into the story and give them a wake up call!
Otherwise it was well narrated and kept me listening.

Passive female protagonists

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