Poetic License

By Gretchen Cherington,

Book cover of Poetic License: A Memoir

Book description

At age forty, with two growing children and a new consulting company she'd recently founded, Gretchen Cherington, daughter of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Richard Eberhart, faced a dilemma: Should she protect her parents' well-crafted family myths while continuing to silence her own voice? Or was it time to challenge those myths…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked Poetic License as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I highly recommend Poetic License for anyone who a) grew up in a patriarchy and b) had fathers who were larger than life.

Cherington’s father was a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, and she had to live in his shadow for much of her life, and accommodate to a world which largely revolved around him.

It was fascinating to read about the notable literary figures who came to their home but, at the same time, having grown up in a patriarchy myself, with a larger-than-life father, I could easily imagine what life was life for the author, a life she describes in…

Want books like Poetic License?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 43 books like Poetic License.

Browse books like Poetic License

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in childhood sexual abuse, sexual abuse, and dysfunctional families?

Sexual Abuse 17 books