Ashley C Ford

"Ford is a writer for the ages, and Somebody's Daughter will be a book of the year" - Glennon Doyle "Truly a classic in the making" - John Green An Oprah book From one of the most powerful voices of her generation: the story of a childhood defined by race, poverty and a father in prison. Throughout her adolescence, Ashley Ford doesn't know how to deal with the worries that keep her up at night. If only she could turn to her father for his advice and support. But he's in prison, and she doesn't know what he did to end up there. After being raped by her ex-boyfriend, Ashley desperately searches for her sense of self. Then, her grandmother reveals the truth about her father's incarceration... and Ashley's world is turned upside down. Ashley embarks on a powerful journey to find the connections between who she is and what she was born into, discovering that, however much we might try to untether ourselves from a painful past, the ties that bind families together are the strongest ones of all. "Sure to be one of the best memoirs of 2021" - Kirkus Reviews "A heart-wrenching coming-of age story" - Time "Her coming-of-age story gets at how to both acknowledge and break away from what we're born into" - Cosmopolitan "A beautiful, delicate memoir... a journey toward true and powerful selfhood" - Elle

The International Bestseller and an Amazon.com book of 2021

Somebody's Daughter

Ashley C. Ford

“Sure to be one of the best memoirs of 2021.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review “So clear, sharp, and smooth that the reader sees, in vivid focus, Ford’s complicated childhood, brilliant mind, and golden heart. Ford is a writer for the ages, and Somebody’s Daughter will be a book of the year.” —Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed “Ford’s wrenchingly brilliant memoir is truly a classic in the making. The writing is so richly observed and so suffused with love and yearning that I kept forgetting to breathe while reading it.” —John Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the looming absence of her incarcerated father. Through poverty, adolescence, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley Ford wishes she could turn to her father for hope and encouragement. There are just a few problems: he’s in prison, and she doesn’t know what he did to end up there. She doesn’t know how to deal with the incessant worries that keep her up at night, or how to handle the changes in her body that draw unwanted attention from men. In her search for unconditional love, Ashley begins dating a boy her mother hates. When the relationship turns sour, he assaults her. Still reeling from the rape, which she keeps secret from her family, Ashley desperately searches for meaning in the chaos. Then, her grandmother reveals the truth about her father’s incarceration . . . and Ashley’s entire world is turned upside down. Somebody’s Daughter steps into the world of growing up a poor, Black girl in Indiana with a family fragmented by incarceration, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be. As Ashley battles her body and her environment, she embarks on a powerful journey to find the threads between who she is and what she was born into, and the complicated familial love that often binds them.

A Memoir

Amelia Hruby

Up until my grandmother died, I’d just accepted the way things were, resigned to my role as the member of my family no one quite understood. It had been enough, maybe even part of the fuel that kept me going in the warped way these things do sometimes, but now, I wanted more. I wanted their closeness. I wanted to start over, and let them see me as I am. I wanted to trust them. I wanted us to be as we are, people who love each other. I had a life and a home in New York with Kelly, but in so many ways, I'd abandoned my home here in Indiana. It didn't have to be this way. However complicated, I could exist in both, as me, fully me. I could be strong enough, because I had to be--if I didn't want to lose this. And I knew I didnt.

Lizeth Esmeralda

I knew I was lucky to have so many people rooting for me, good people …but sometimes my feelings of unworthiness crept in. A part of me was ashamed that I’d gotten my version of “it all”, and felt compelled to smash it under my heel… It made me angry. I didn’t want to be sad, I didn’t want to be anxious

When you don’t grow up with a certain kind of affection, even if you know you’re worthy of it, it can be hard to accept in adulthood. 

We didn't know, back then, there are about a million ways to love and be loved by another person. We thought what we had, the way we had it, was the only way it could be. We were stuck.

Kids can always tell the difference between adults who want to empower them, and adults who want to overpower them. 

The library felt to good to be true. All those books, on all those shelves, and I could just pluck them out, one by one, find an empty chair, and read, and read, and read… My imagination had already taken me on a million wild rides, but here was unlimited adventure. For the rest of my life, I would seek out the library the way some search for the soft light of a chapel in the dark. 

I was confused. I didn’t know how to be the child my mother wanted me to be. 

When she said that thing to me, that I could always come home, part of me wanted to reply, “Mama, I love you, but I’ll work myself past the white meat, down to the bone, and fistfight every stranger I run across on the street before we live under the same roof again.”

Morgan Wilson 

Angelyn Francis

As always, Ashley C. Ford writes beautifully. I struggle with the fact that my assumptions about what this book would be kept me from appreciating what it is. It is artfully written but the arc feels slightly flat and like there was was more room to expand. I'd still be excited to read anything else she puts out. 3.5/5

Teresa Bonifácio

I had never heard of Ashley before. I’ve picked up her memoir to hear while working. It surprised me. Hearing how she grow up, what she been through. It’s tough, but still, she made it. It’s an amazing memoir.

Kweh Quiambao

I don’t know if it’s okay to say that I relate to Ashley’s childhood if you consider my privilege and our difference in races/culture, however I do, I do feel like this is my childhood. As someone with an absent father and a complicated mother I found myself understood in Somebody’s Daughter and that’s rare for me (yes, I searched everywhere). 

The blurb was more focused on Ashley’s dad’s incarceration, however big was that impact, it was more of a side story. Most of the content was focused on her relationship with her mother and grandmother, who were physically here with her growing up. 

This book has successfully put into words the delicate complicated truths in growing up with a mother who loves you and fails you at the same time, in cultures where family is everything. The confusion and the anger a child has to process alone. The power dynamic shifting after leaving home and the (not really) peaceful atmosphere to maintain. 

Ashley also worked on her relationship with her dad. She knew she was not in the position to pardon him of the sins he committed to someone else and yet she’s strong enough to rebuild a relationship with him. I cannot even begin to imagine how hard and complex that is. 

With books like this, one of my favorite parts is getting to that point where we're ready to share it. Where we're not the angry kid any more. Where we now have a safe space to be vulnerable. <3

Ashley’s brutal honesty is something I could never have the courage to explore deeper in writing and share to the world. And her beautiful writing is an added bonus. I love memoirs but not a lot of them impacted me like this one had.

Lisa Lindquist 

Susan

Jeannette Ordas

Well, unlike everyone else, I didn't love this book. The strongest chapter that I thought was where Ashley goes to meet her dad in prison. Lucky for me, the book was slight so it was an easy read. A generous 3 stars.

It took me a bit to get into this one, but I love that she wrote about her childhood in a way often reserved for adulthood. I cried at the end when she wrote about being away from & close to family

I love how emotionally open and vulnerable this book is and I can definitely relate to a lot of the family drama and issues. Ashley does an amazing job looking into her emotional states as a child and the innocence that was there her ideas and beliefs then and you can see the way she slowly changed and began shaping herself into the person she wanted to be and not just what others expected her to be. Not every author can write a memoir that feels like it’s been written from the correct point of view from the age or stage of life they were in but Ashley does amazing. All the way through this I felt like I was watching Ashley grow up not reading her work as an adult about how she grew up. I loved this book!

Sam Cali 

Great modern American memoir about a girl who grew up with her dad in prison, discusses themes of family, abuse, rape, incarceration, justice, forgiveness, and more. This is the first book I’ve ever read that caused me to cry HAPPY TEARS! Easy short read and SO good. 

Tiff Brunson

I absolutely loved this book. The narrative flowed so beautifully that it was hard to put down.  

Yennifer Villa

Summer Stanley

Beautiful and upsetting. I loved the revelations that were understated. Ford gave us lots of credit as readers and expected us to come to her story ready to listen and think. 
Based on the opening, I thought more of the story would be non-chronological. I’d be very interested to read these sections in a non-linear timeline. 
Overall very insightful and poetic.

Heather Martin

Somebody's Daughter is a moving memoir that immerses you in Ashley Ford's world. Her description of childhood emotions struck a chord with me. I found it difficult to read at times as I was empathizing with young Ashley's childhood and teenage struggles, but overall, I think it was a very moving book that will likely touch all of its readers in a personal, nuanced way. 

Somebody's Daughter The International Bestseller and an Amazon.com book of 2021

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