The most touching parent/adult-child relationship books leading to success and redemption

American Daughter caught my interest because of the title. I was writing a novel based on my father’s search for the American Dream, and we had a contentious relationship. I always felt like the American Daughter of an Argentine dad.

American Daughter, however, didn’t really have anything to do with being American aside from showing the realities or another side of the American Dream, the pain, the struggle, and the brokenness of American families.

I ended up relating to this book much more than I expected. The author’s mother was mentally unstable, selfish, and unable to actually mother. My father, and the character of my novel, was also all three of those things.

I felt a connection with the author because I understood how difficult it must have been for her to ultimately forgive her mother and see her as a damaged human being who did the best she could.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone wanting to read a book about a mother/daughter relationship.

The Mother-in-Law is a funny mystery about a mother-in-law who is found dead and the likely suspect is the main character, Lucy who had a challenging relationship with her mother-in-law.

The main reason I recommend this book is not so much because Sally Hepworth is an amazing writer (she is!) and she keeps you turning the pages (she does!), but because this book ended up being so much more than a “whodunit” story.

As the story builds and we see the relationship between daughter and mother-in-law develop, we come to love both characters because they are so real, and their relationship is deeply complex. How do you love a difficult person? It’s not easy, but Lucy shows us how. I loved this book, and in fact, I want to read it again.

What do you do when you find out that the man you thought was your father, really isn’t? Well, you begin to question everything. If a mystery man is your real father instead of the man who raised you, then what does that make you?

When Marcela, a Latina animator learns that her father might be a white friend of her mother’s, she tries to prove that she is still Latina enough as she goes in search of her biological father.

Part of what makes us who we are is what we believe about ourselves, and in this book the character’s entire identity comes into question. My book is about a man’s search for the American Dream; however, to achieve success, you have to believe in yourself and have a clear understanding of who you are.

Immigrants, in many ways, leave their old identity behind to become a new version of themselves. This commonality about identity, and the fact that both stories deal with father/daughter relationships makes me enthusiastically recommend Becoming Latina in 10 Easy Steps.

Educated is a memoir about a young girl who grows up with an extreme prepper family who does not trust government institutions, so they do not send their children to schools, use medical institutions, or participate in society in general. Tara’s older brother and father are both abusive, and eventually, Tara decides to leave her family to pursue a college education. 

I am a college professor as well as a writer, so I really enjoyed this book. It’s a book about pursuing your dreams. It’s a book about not giving up. It’s a book about leaving your family or a bad situation even though you feel guilty. These are all themes that are part of my book and that I related to well before I wrote my novel.

I also had to move away from my family to become a stronger version of myself. I also had to reinvent myself. So, though my situation was very different, and this memoir is not like my novel in an overt way, it shares similar themes because it is a story about a woman’s relationship with a dysfunctional family.

This is a fascinating historical novel about Thomas Jefferson’s oldest daughter, Patsy Jefferson. Aside from learning much more about history than I ever did in high school or college, I enjoyed reading about the relationship that she had with her father. 

It’s difficult, I think, to have a relationship with a man like Jefferson who was devoted to his ideals and dreams first and to his family second. He had goals that were so immense that there was no competing with them. And yet, Patsy is completely devoted to her father and his goals. It’s a story about loving an imperfect man and making sacrifices.

It gave me a different perspective on a historical figure, but it also made me think about my own relationship with my father because I could relate to coming second or third in the life of a father you love. I know what it’s like to be disillusioned when you realize he’s a man like any other with serious defects.

I found the story to be well-told and expertly researched though I didn’t verify that all the facts were historically accurate. I would definitely recommend this book to those who like historical fiction.