From Publishers Weekly
Godwin brings empathy, understanding and a 19th-century sensibility to this novel of a young woman deeply attached to her father, a moody Episcopalian minister whose wife has abandoned him. This BOMC main selection received a PW boxed review. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.



"Ambitious, wise...unforgettable...an engrossingly good read...a novel that explores timeless concerns of faith, love, and morality."



"Brilliant...an elegant, intelligent, and necessary novel--the best book yet from Gail Godwin."



"Haunting...superb...the novel dazzles."



"Remarkable...I don't know more than a few contemporary novels as full of grace as Gail Godwin's Father Melancholy's Daughter."


Book Description

The novels of Gail Godwin are contemporary classics--evocative, powerfully affecting, beautifully crafted fiction alive with endearing, unforgettable characters. Her critically acclaimed work has placed her among the ranks of Eudora Welty, Pat Conroy, and Carson McCullers, firmly establishing Godwin as a Southern literary novelist for the ages.

Father Melancholy's Daughter, is widely recognized as one of the author's most poignant and accomplished novels -- a bittersweet and ultimately transcendent story of a young girl's devotion to her father, the rector of a small Virginia church, and of the hope, dreams, and love that sustain them both in the wake of the betrayal and tragedy that diminished their family.


About the Author
Gail Godwin is the author of ten novels, three of which were nominated for National Book Awards. A Southern Family and Father Melancholy's Daughter were both NYT bestsellers and Main Selections of the Book of the Month Club. She has been translated into 12 languages. She is a Guggenheim Fellow and the recipient of an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and letters. She holds a doctorate in Modern Letters from the University of Iowa and has taught in the Iowa writers Workshop, Vassar and Columbia. A native of Asheville, N.C., she now lives in Woodstock, N.Y.

ANNOTATION

A New York Times bestselling novel from the author of A Mother and Two Daughters and A Southern Family. When Ruth abandoned her family, she left behind a deeply religious husband and a precocious six-year-old daughter, Margaret. Now grown, Margaret burns with unresolved questions that demand answers. "Vivid and distinct."--New York Times Book Review.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The novels of Gail Godwin are contemporary classics—evocative, powerfully affecting, beautifully crafted fiction alive with endearing, unforgettable characters. Her critically acclaimed work has placed her among the ranks of Eudora Welty, Pat Conroy, and Carson McCullers, firmly establishing Godwin as a Southern literary novelist for the ages.

Father Melancholy's Daughter, is widely recognized as one of the author's most poignant and accomplished novels — a bittersweet and ultimately transcendent story of a young girl's devotion to her father, the rector of a small Virginia church, and of the hope, dreams, and love that sustain them both in the wake of the betrayal and tragedy that diminished their family.

FROM THE CRITICS

Philadelphia Inquirer

Haunting...superb...the novel dazzles.

USA Today

Remarkable...I don't know more than a few contemporary novels as full of grace as Gail Godwin's Father Melancholy's Daughter.

Atlanta Journal and Constitution

Ambitious, wise...unforgettable...an engrossingly good read...a novel that explores timeless concerns of faith, love, and morality.

San Diego Union-Tribune

Skillful and memorable...full of surprises...without question, her best to date...a tale so spellbinding the reader hates to put it down...Thought-provoking while it entertains, it lifts the reader's spirits, leaving him or her better for having read it.

Philadelphia Inquirer