Book Review- Father of the Rain

This is the best book I have read in some time.  Beautifully written and engaging story by Lily King.

It's about a father-daughter relationship written from the perspective of the daughter.  My childhood and relationship with my folks is not of their world.  They were"privileged" in the sense that the word has been used in that they were wealthy and, apparently, despite some expensive habits never were concerned for money.  Also they were boozers---boozing to that extreme or even much at all was not something I observed in my household or in those of my neighbors.

So, it could have been difficult to relate to the novel.  Father of the Rain might have seemed trite or whiny in the hands of a less skilled writer. That was not the case here at all. The book was just terrific--the sort you shlep wherever you are going in case you have a few minutes.  Some of the characters,  I think, were superfluous and once near the end I saw a reference to one and had to go back and try to remember who he was and why he was even mentioned in the scene.  Couldn't find a mention of him and, significantly, it did not seem to matter. But these are minor complaints.  Lily King captures moments so vividly that on occasion I would have to put the book down just to appreciate how she had, just right, managed to describe what a character would have done in a similar situation.  Her depictions of the father were remarkable and I feel as if I can see him right here, right now.  This is not typically one of my strong suits as a reader.  I often don't see characters physically in the way they are described.  In this book I can see him, I can imagine his mannerisms, and predict what he might say--and marvel when she has written what I imagine to be the precise things he would do and say in a given situation.

Not a terribly uplifting book so if you need a laugher, I'd put this book aside for now. But I would pick it up later.  The kind of read that makes you glad that reading is a hobby.