Winner of the New England Book Award for Fiction

From Lily King, beloved author of Writers and Lovers, Father of the Rain is a mesmerising novel about the complexity and power of familial love.

Gardiner Amory’s life is reeling – Nixon is being impeached, his wife is leaving him and his worldview is rapidly becoming outdated. His daughter, Daley, has spent her life negotiating her parents’ conflicting worlds: the liberal realm of her mother and the conservative, liquor-soaked life of her father. But when the pair divorces, Gardiner’s basest impulses are unleashed in a deluge, and the chasm between all of them widens.

As she reaches adulthood, Daley rejects her father’s prejudices and embarks on her own life – until Gardiner hits rock bottom. Returning home to help her father get sober, Daley risks everything, including a chance at love, in an attempt to repair a trust that was broken long ago . . .

'A gripping epic about a father and daughter that plumbs the dark side of a family riven by addiction and mental illness' - Entertainment Weekly

A gripping epic about a father and daughter that plumbs the dark side of a family riven by addiction and mental illness. * Entertainment Weekly *
Brilliant . . . An absorbing, insightful story written in cool, polished prose right to the last conflicted line. * The Washington Post *
Spellbinding . . . You won't be able to stop reading. * Vanity Fair *
King is a beautiful writer, with equally strong gifts for dialogue and internal monologue. * The New York Times Book Review *
Haunting, incisive . . . brilliant. * Elle *
Luminous . . . Uplifing . . . Fresh, with vividly drawn characters. * O, The Oprah Magazine *
Fierce. * Vogue *
A big, powerful punch of a novel. * Entertainment Weekly *
Richly satisfying. -- Richard Russo

Lily King is the author of The Pleasing Hour, The English Teacher, Father of the Rain, Euphoria, Writers & Lovers, which was a New York Times bestseller, and the short story collection, Five Tuesdays in Winter. Euphoria won the Kirkus Prize and the New England Book Award for Fiction, was named one of the 10 Best Books of the Year by The New York Times, and was also a New York Times bestseller. It was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. King is also the recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award and has twice won both the Maine Fiction Award and the New England Book Award. She lives in Maine, USA.