Andrea N. Richesin - What I Would Tell Her

Often heartbreaking, sometimes harrowing and consistently hilarious. What I Would Tell Her tells the world about the savagely beautiful bond between fathers and daughters, and it does so without a drop of saccharin or sap. Spectacularly achieved, and fascinating from the very first page.

Jason Roberts, author of A Sense of the World

Reading these 28 remarkable essays made me rejoice in that special bond that fathers and daughters share. These essays will win over every father and all of their daughters.

Ann Hood, New York Times bestselling author of The Red Thread and The Knitting Circle

By turns thoughtful, hilarious, soulful and wry, What I Would Tell Her offers a direct line into the heart and soul of the Y chromo-some-possessor we call father. This book brought me to my knees.

Karen Karbo, author of The Stuff of Life: A Daughters Memoir

With the help of some great writers, Nicki Richesin has managed to do what I thought was impossible: accurately and fully describe that life-changing, magical bond that exists between father and daughter. These essays are sweet and provocative.

Ad Hudler, author of Man of the House: A Novel

Whether your father-daughter business is holding on, letting go, rocking out, coaching, doting, or enduring the terrible, beautiful twinning of love and loss, there is something here for you.

Catherine Newman, author of Waiting for Birdy

This collection could have taught King Lear a thing or two.

Robert Mailer Anderson, author of Boonville

With great candor, these writers bravely expose their inner lives.

Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of Wits End and The Jane Austen Book Club

The essays here are touching, funny, moving and inspiringsometimes all at once.

David Liss, author of The Devils Company and The Whiskey Rebels

Andrea Richesin has assembled a terrific collection of essays by men who write with great wonder, humor, and abiding love for their daughters. What I Would Tell Her is an indispensable addition to the growing literature of fatherhood.

Caroline Grant, editor of Mama, PhD: Women Write about Motherhood and Academic Life

Humor, tenderness, joy and sadness: all are in great abundance in this marvelous collection. What I Would Tell Her is a book all fathers and daughters should read.

Ron Rash, author of Serena

Moms get all the sweets writing about the real loves of our livesour children. But in Nicki Richesins exquisite collection about what fathers would tell their daughters, daddies lay bare their great hearts.

Jacquelyn Mitchard, New York Times bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean and No Time to Wave Goodbye

A beautiful collection of fathers singing of and to their great loves. Some essays are funny, some somber and intense, but what unites them is emotional honesty. There is something to learn here for every woman who has a father, and every man privileged enough to play that role.

Mat Johnson, author of Hunting in Harlem and Drop

You can find the whole world in this one book. Twenty-eight powerhouse writers prove again and again the immutable power of a fathers love and the eloquence that comes when a heart speaks. These pieces are by turns touching, hilarious, painful, tragic and ultimately upliftinga true gift to the reader. This collection is not just entertaining. Its important, probably even transformative.

Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Hideaway

These writerssome of the best of our generationhave big stories to tell. They love their daughters; they protect their daughters; they let their daughters go. Its powerful materialwritten with tenderness, compassion and great insight.

Ellen Sussman, author of Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex and Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave and On a Night Like This

If youre expecting a syrupy, fairy-tale collection of father-daughter essays, this is not it. The writing here is so raw and pure.

Rachel Sarah, author of Single Mom Seeking and founder of a blog by the same name

Bursting at its covers with love and wisdom, What I Would Tell Her should be required reading for fathers and daughters. No book has ever made me feel happier, and more fortunate, to be a dad.

Will Allison, author of What You Have Left

Reading What I Would Tell Her illuminates the love, loss, heartache, and hopes in stunning, sharp essays that are at turns comedic and touching. Most of all, these words are like the best conversations with my own dad: honest.

Emily Franklin, author of Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, and 102 Recipes and The Girls Almanac