Fatherless Women: How We Change After We Lose Our Dads Paperback – August 2, 2002

Since I lost my dad almost 10 years ago, I felt it was a book I needed to read. I still have a lot of unresolved issues surrounding my father's death and it has impacted me in a very negative way. I thought this book would provide me some insight into why I am still having problems with my dad's death. I related to some of the book, but not all of it. The author's circumstances were very different from mine but she does include interviews with many other women, some of whom I could relate to and some that I couldn't. I am not really sure if it has given me the additional insight I had hoped for but it a well researched and well written book and is worth reading. It seemed more of a personal journal of the author's life and her father's death rather than a psychological study of how our fathers' death affects us, but I am glad I read it anyway.

This author is an excellent essayist. I like her non fiction better than her fiction. While my dad died twenty years ago, there are still some unresolved issues. Some of the things this author said helped me with the healing. I know I am not alone; others bear this type of pain. And it goes beyond the loss of one family member. Families change and not always for the better with the loss of a father. I wish the author had put in more about siblings, and how they change. One lone example comes late in the book with interviews with a woman called Bette. As the author says, “Bette’s family is real, not ideal.” The same could be said for my family. We were far from ideal. The loss of my father opened up deep scars that separated forever my mother, my sister and me. As I read this book, I tried to understand what happened to us. Some answers don’t dome that easily.

I bought this book about a month after my father passed away this past March. I took immediate solace in the author's words and actually burst into tears upon learning in the first few pages that her father also passed when she was 31 years old. At times, I felt like the book was written specifically for/to me. Aside from the author's healing words, some of the insights about the father/daughter dynamic were eye-openers for me. The one part that sticks with me most is when the author discusses how the death of a mother is a much more painful experience for the average woman, but the death of a father creates more change in an adult daughter's life. This is a wonderful book for women in their 30's and 40's who overall had a healthy relationship with their fathers. 5 months later I'm still having a very difficult time grieving my father's death, but every now and then a passage from the book will pop into my head that I can take comfort in. Thank you, Clea.

None of my friends have lost their fathers. This book REALLY helped me process the grief, the hole in my psyche that his death caused, and how little things like buying a new stereo can tear a hole in your heart without your dad there. I recently had major storm damage to my house that required a new roof, and got totally hosed by the insurance company AND the roofers. They would have NEVER messed with Dad! And I bought a TV and felt so LOST without Dad's advice, he knew SO much about all things electronic. He was always on my side. It's hard to have the absence of his presence as Guardian Angel of All Things Mechanical and Otherwise without tears. And there were the big bear hugs. How do you part with the only man on the planet that thinks you rock? God, I miss my Dad. This book really helped me cope when I didn't have anyone else with real-time experience to talk to. Would recommend it to anyone who has loved and lost their Dad.

I purchased this book thinking that it also dealt with "girls" who have lost their fathers. My father passed when I was 4 years old and this was not the book for me. I didn't read the entire book, once I got into chapter one, I knew it didn't pertain to me. So, to help those of you who may want to purchase this book, it's really written for the age range of upper teens through adults of any age. It's also written to appeal to those who have had fairly good/ healthy relationships with their dads. I hope this review helps, I rated it 4 stars because it does seem very well written (what I read of it).

As with many books of this sort, there were parts which were spot on when compared to my experience with the loss of my dear father almost four years ago. Those parts helped me by affirming that my experience has been similar to that of many other women. However, as with most books of this sort, there was much that did not apply and to which I could not relate. It would not be my choice in the early stages of loss & grief. At this point - four years down the road - it was a thought provoking read as I approach the fourth anniversary of this loss. This book allows for the introspection that I so needed at this time.

As an adult I recently lost my Dad and unexpectedly had immense grief and confusion. This book was so helpful to me understanding what I was feeling and offered great hope of the things to come. Clea Simon explains her own personal findings as well as experiences from other women who have lost their dads, with particular focus on us as adults. She covers a broad range of women and their lives affected by their fathers, and then beyond when we face life without them. I was happy to know that his impact on me would grow, even after he was gone.

My father died almost a year ago and I bought this book in October 2004. I'm still having a hard time reading it; not because it's not easy reading, but because of the depth of emotion it conjures up as it pushes me to reflect on the relationship between me and my dad. No matter how old I get, I will always miss him and wish I could have stayed young and he could've lived forever. I think when I get to the end of this book, I will have gone through more healing through my grief. It's that kind of book..

This book really helped me to make sense of some of the more complicated emotions that occur in father daughter relationships. It was my companion through many dark hours after my dad passed away, and at times I still pick it off the shelf to help me think through and understand some of the changes that have occured in me as a person since I lost my dad. Written in an accessible and personal manner the author is kind and supportive in her accounts of her experiences as well as those women she has interviewed. There is one other book as well that I found helpful and this was The Rules of Inheritance by Claire Bidwell Smith, and although recounting this experinces of someone younger than myself as she struggled to cope with multiple losses, the two books together helped me shift from a very sad and unhappy place of grieving to gradually being able to make sense of the the complex emotions I was trying to deal with. A must read if youve recently (or are about to) lose your dad!

After a long wait I received a hand-corrected proof, instead of an actual publication. This is thoughtless and offensive.Will not order from better world books again.

This book helped me process the loss of my dad. I would recommend it to anyone grieving the loss.

My father passed away in February 2015 and I had been having some mixed feelings toward him and some of the things that had taken place between us over the years. This book explains why fathers do what they do and how once they are gone we as daughters change certain aspects of our lives that we would not have done if he were still living.

This book was not what I expected. I had a close bond with my Dad and am struggling to come to terms with losing him. I was hoping this book would provide some insight into how other women have coped after losing their father. Not so. If you had a good relationship with your father and are struggling to cope with his loss, this isn't the book for you. If you had a somewhat troubled or strained relationship with your father and are grieving his loss it might be a useful read.