In early 2014, after many years living abroad, Sam Miller returned to his childhood home in London. His father was dying.
In the months after his death, Sam began to write about his father. He had been told, long ago, a family secret involving his parents and a close friend. Now, by reading his father’s papers and with the help of his mother, he was able to piece together a remarkable story.
Fathers is the result: a tender, thoughtful exploration of childhood and parenthood, of friendship, love and loyalty.
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Imprint: Vintage Digital
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Published: 09/03/2017
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ISBN: 9781473547056
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Length: 256 Pages
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RRP: £9.99
Reviews
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A quiet and deeply affecting meditation on friendship and family secrets, Fathers glitters with love and uncertainty. Miller writes beautifully about mystery, memory, and how we choose our paths through life, how we decide who we are.
Helen Macdonald
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Fathers is something much more surprising than a literary life: both a touching celebration of a parent, and the gentle unraveling of a family secret.
Andrew Holgate, Sunday Times
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I can’t remember when I have more enjoyed a memoir, in the reading and in the conversations in my head afterwards with its author. Fathers is a profoundly rich and rewarding experience and will be gobbled up by readers and writers.
Cathy Rentzenbrink, The Times
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Fathers… is not a misery memoir. Far from it. It is… a kind of detective story
Rachel Cooke, Observer
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This book began as an extension of the speech Sam made at his father’s funeral – and as a way to cope with his grief. It has become something else in the process: an exploration of love, sex, genetic disposition and what makes us who we are… There has been some remarkable dad lit over the last year… and Sam Miller’s is a fascinating addition to the genre… There may be some who would have preferred the story to stay in-house. And as Sam is quick to acknowledge, others would tell it differently. But his, the son’s version, is sunny: generous in spirit, exculpatory in tone, grateful rather than self-pitying.
Blake Morrison, Guardian
