In Review

09 January 2009 11:42 BST

My Father's Keeper by Julie Gregory

Published by Harper Element, out 02/06/08, hardback, 304 pp, £12.99.

In a nutshell...

Educational, interesting, over-the-top

What's it all about?

A young woman describes what it was like growing up with a schizophrenic father during the 1970s and 1980s and the impact it had on her life and her own mental health. Julie lives with her constantly-warring parents and her little brother Danny and wants to have as normal a life as possible. Her experience of her father's temper and the arguments he has with her mother make Julie into a peacemaker - the only one who can tread the "tightrope" between her two parents.

Who's it by?

Julie Gregory is the bestselling author of Sickened, Memoir of a Lost Childhood, a record of life with her hypochondriac mother. The book was published in 20 countries, won awards and was well-received by critics. Born in Ohio, Gregory describes herself in this book as someone who "should have been a ballerina, or a model, or at least a prima donna".

As an example...

"Our one-acre yard was a sea of brilliant lush grass that surrounded the trailer as a moat and I remember riding on a tractor mower in a lime green bikini, leaning into curves around weeping willow saplings, planted to give an air of permanence against the transience of our home."

Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster

While as a story this book is potentially interesting, the writing style makes it to some extent uninspiring and scriptwriters may not be motivated to look beyond the first page.

So is it any good?

My Father's Keeper is potentially a very good book. Where Gregory moves into the narrative, it is possible to tell that her story deserves to be told. However, at some points, her narrative is obscured by the over-the-top language she uses and it relies too much on the reader decoding her style and disregarding unnecessary passages. For example "she unbuttons her trousers, the pink skin of her belly rushing down her zipper like a flashflood" or the passage mentioned above. This prevents her from framing what is essentially an fascinating and important story in its best light.

Ignoring her writing style, once she gets into the simple recounting of the story, Gregory's tale is both interesting and emotive, with the details of her private life making the reader sympathise with her plight. What's particularly appealing about this memoir is how she continues to describe the story of her life after childhood. She is very honest about the way her father has affected her way of viewing the world - "without him as my watchdog, I never would have known how many people made fun of me" - and illustrating what kind of effect such an upbringing can have on a child.

Nevertheless, reading this book can be hard work before it is enjoyable, and Gregory's flowery language means readers need to be patient before the tale becomes relevant. Ultimately, though, I had little sympathy for the child who should have been at the centre of my attention.

4/10

Eleanor Thompson

"I will read the book carefully as I did when the author's first book Sickened was published. I am a freelance investigative journalist based in the UK and my special subject has been allegations of Munchausen's by Proxy, which in Sickened the author claimed she had the victim of, and her mother the abuser.

Where it was possible to double check very serious allegations and claims in Sickened with documentary US sourced evidence they were shown to be false. Random House accepted this but still blamed the mother as she must have misled her daughter, they said.

I asked the Random House to release the author's full medical history relating to Sickened, not just the selected parts published. Some of the medical reports which appear in the book actually went a long way to confirming the author was suffering from a genuine medical condition which could not have been fabricated or invented by her mother.

The author's mother fully co-operated with my investigation. Co-operation by the publisher and author of Sickened was - zero.

Readers will remember James Frey and his fabricated memoir, A Million Little Pieces, exposed by The Smoking Gun Investigators and Oprah Winfrey's anger at being duped." - Brian Morgan

"As Julie Gregory's biological mother why doesn't someone ask for proof of the allegations she has made in her books? For one, Julie never graduated from high school let alone was a graduate student in Psychiatry from Sheffield University, England. We proved most of Sickened was untrue. As Julie tried to get our adopted children taken permanentally from our home, she was unsucessful. Wouldn't one think a mentally ill, child abuser, capable of murder should have kids in her home? The State of Montana investigated Julie's claims and returned our adopted kids to us. One caseworker called Julie's allegations as BULL....!!! Here we go again!!! It should be obivious that Julie has no feelings toward her parents as she earns her living off their blood. The same as she has done to some of her friends. What about the baby Julie had and is raising alone? All I wish for Julie in life is to have 6 kids - ALL LIKE HER!!!!! That would be punshiment enough for her lies. Anyone interested in proof of Julie's untruths in the last book... please contact me." - Sandra Parocai

"I can't wait to read My Father's Keeper as I am sure it is based on Ms Gregory's recollection of her own childhood. I think it is interesting how Ms Parocai is utilising the same "I'll sue you" tactics as she systematically breaks people down. Her claim for innocence is not surprising since she spent hours studying how to be a master manipulator.Kudos for Julie Gregory to steer clear of her venomous mother." - KD Johnson

"Well, now that she's made money off airing dirty laundry on both her mother and father, who's up next? The brother? Pathetic." - Lee Hervey

"I just got done reading Sickened, so I decided to find other books by this author. I came across My Father's Keeper. Now I really find it hard to believe that this child that was so ill from her mother taking her from doctor to doctor and spilling pills down her and making her ill would have the strength to deal with a sick father too. What an imagination this woman has. I will not read My Father's Keeper. I simply do not believe her. I sure hope she leaves her brother alone, if he exists at all that is." - Pat Holmes