Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls: A Memoir

"The book I wish I'd had growing up." --Chanel Miller, author of Know My Name

Esquire Best Nonfiction Books of the Year * O, The Oprah Magazine Best LGBTQ Books of the Year * Lit Hub Best Queer Debuts of the Year * Book Riot Best Books of the Year * Autostraddle Best Queer Books of the Year * Elle Best Books of the Season * Paste Best Memoirs of the Decade * Washington Post Best Books of the Month * Indie Next Pick * Indies Introduce Pick

One of the most anticipated books of 2019--Entertainment Weekly, Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, The Millions, Nylon, The Rumpus, Electric Literature, Lit Hub, Refinery29, and many more

Acclaimed literary essayist T Kira Madden's raw and redemptive debut memoir is about coming of age and reckoning with desire as a queer, biracial teenager amidst the fierce contradictions of Boca Raton, Florida, a place where she found cult-like privilege, shocking racial disparities, rampant white-collar crime, and powerfully destructive standards of beauty hiding in plain sight.

As a child, Madden lived a life of extravagance, from her exclusive private school to her equestrian trophies and designer shoe-brand name. But under the surface was a wild instability. The only child of parents continually battling drug and alcohol addictions, Madden confronted her environment alone. Facing a culture of assault and objectification, she found lifelines in the desperately loving friendships of fatherless girls.

With unflinching honesty and lyrical prose, spanning from 1960s Hawai'i to the present-day struggle of a young woman mourning the loss of a father while unearthing truths that reframe her reality, Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls is equal parts eulogy and love letter. It's a story about trauma and forgiveness, about families of blood and affinity, both lost and found, unmade and rebuilt, crooked and beautiful.