Five Books to Read for Father’s Day

18 Jun

It’s Father’s Day on June 21st, so I thought that today I’d take a look at some of my favourite books featuring the role that fathers - or father figures - play in their offspring’s lives. I wanted to choose a bit of a mixed bag so that there was something which would appeal to most people, and I think these five books all offer something very different. I’ve listed them in no particular order.

No. 1 - Father by Elizabeth von Arnim

'There came a moment, she imagined, in the lives of most unmarried daughters, and perhaps in other people's too, when they must either bolt or go permanently under.'

Since her mother's death Jennifer has devoted years of her life to her father, managing the family home and acting as his secretary. After the sudden announcement that he has taken a new wife, Jennifer, at 33, seizes the opportunity to lead an independent life. Quickly she secures the lease of Rose Cottage and turns her attention to her own needs and interests.

Published in 1931, Father explores the concept of spinsterhood in a time when the financial and social status of single women were often dependent on male family members. While Jennifer is desperate to experience life on her own terms within her reduced financial means, her neighbour Alice is pre-occupied with ensuring her position as head of her brother's household is never challenged.

This was a surprisingly funny book, and tells the story of Jennifer (Jen) - who has finally escaped the clutches of her father and is determined to live her own life at last. She manages to rent Rose Cottage by sheer luck and all because the vicar, James, is under the thumb of his sister, Alice.

If Alice wasn’t so determined to prove to her brother who is the boss in their relationship, Jennifer would never have got the lease, because what the new tenant was supposed to be was someone who could take over grave digging duties when the local gravedigger is too far gone from drink to carry out his duties. Unfortunately for James, Jennifer isn’t grave digging material!

Father is by the author of The Enchanted April, so I expected it would be good and it was. ‘Father’ himself doesn’t really appear much in the story, but his influence is everywhere, and it’s only because of him that Jennifer strikes out on her own. It’s about people who have been bossed around all their lives finally standing up for themselves and breaking free - not without many difficulties and mishaps.

I really loved this and highly recommend it.

No. 2 - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The iconic modern classic and coming-of-age novel exploring racism in the American South.
'Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.'

A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel - a black man charged with a serious crime.
Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s.
The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice.

But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

I first read this for my English Literature O level, way back in the days before GCSEs, and it’s never left me. If I had to give an award to the best father in literature, I’d probably give it to Atticus Finch.

I still cry in places, and that final line… I won’t repeat it in case you haven’t read it, and it’s not as if it’s anything profound or earth-shattering. In fact, it’s an incredibly simple line, written in the language of a child, but honestly, it makes me gulp and blink back tears every time, because it sums up so completely Scout’s certainty that her father will always, always be there for his children.

The story of the desperate fight for justice Atticus wages on behalf of an accused Black man, Tom Robinson - putting himself and his family at real risk - is devastating and terrifying. The impact of that storyline, narrated with such simplicity by Atticus’s young daughter, Scout, is even more powerful, woven as it is between her tales of everyday life in Maycomb, Alabama, during the days of the Great Depression.

Her relationship with her brother, Jem, is explored, along with their new friendship with visitor, Dill, and their neighbours in the small town who each have their opinions about Atticus and the case he’s taken on.

And always there’s the shadowy and elusive figure of Boo Radley, who lives in a house down the street, and is never seen…

If you haven’t read this book already you really need to do so. It’s absolutely incredible. In fact, as wonderful as all these books are, if you can only read one of them, make it this one.

No. 3 - Oh! To Be in England by H.E. Bates

'Christening? We never said nothing about no christening, Ma, did we?'

And so with the appearance of a letter announcing the imminent arrival of Madame Dupont, Pop and Ma Larkin learn that little Oscar and Blenheim - Charley and Mariette's new boy - are to be christened.
In fact, once Mr Candy - who will be officiating (much to raven-haired Primrose's delight) - learns that Pop and Ma have neglected the entire Larkin brood, the whole family seems set for a dunking!
Pop, who needs no excuse to open a few bottles of Dragon's Blood and host the perfick party, rushes out and buys a fun fair to celebrate.

But there are one or two gatecrashers even Pop hadn't counted on turning up . . .

Really, I could have picked any of the Pop Larkin books by H.E. Bates, but I thought this one dealt more with Pop’s role as a father (and a grandfather) than the others, as his children are growing up fast. You just can’t go wrong with these stories. They’re full of love and laughter, heart and hope. They portray an England that might never have existed - but don’t we all wish it did!

I adore the Larkins - from the ample and loving Ma to the generous and jovial Pop, from confident, sultry Mariette to shy, genial Charley, flirtatious and poetic Primrose, and all the younger children and other characters from the village. Any time spent with this family is time well spent, so pick up the book and lose yourself in a story that will fill your heart with joy.

No. 4 - A Grand Man by Catherine Cookson

“Me da’s a grand man!” Mary Ann Shaughnessy has spoken; question her who dare. For although Mary Ann may look quite an ordinary small girl from a dockland tenement, always hot in defense of a ne’er-do-well father, she is in fact a one-man army, armoured with faith and possessed of formidable qualities.

Set on Tyneside, the part of the world which Catherine Cookson knew and understood so well, this heartwarming and humorously observed book skillfully weds an authentic and unsentimentalized background to the kind of fairytale story that we all like to believe could come true and which the Mary Ann Shaughnessys of this world know to be true.

The moral of A Grand Man is simply that faith can move mountains, but the delight of the book lies in the telling and in the character of its heroine as she battles, connives, and bargains to get a better way of life for those she loves and especially for the “grand man” himself.

If ever a little girl loved her daddy, it’s Mary Ann Shaughnessy. I read the Mary Ann books years ago - I think I was probably in my early twenties. In them, we follow Mary Ann from being a little girl to a grown woman with children of her own. But this is where it all starts, and this is where we first realise how utterly besotted Mary Ann is with her da, and how convinced she is that no other father comes close to the perfection of her own.

That Mary Ann has as great an awareness of the fatal flaw in the man as everyone else around her, yet will flat out deny that such a flaw even exists to any of them (except maybe Father Owen and the Holy Family, of course), is part of this book’s charm, and also what tugs at the heartstrings. You totally want her dreams to come true, and with Mary Ann’s conviction you can’t help feeling they will. One day, she knows, her da will prove to the world that he really is a grand man.

I re-read this book a couple of weeks ago for the first time in years and it brought me to tears on several occasions. Yet it also made me laugh and left me feeling full of hope and warmth and joy.

The late, great Catherine Cookson on fine form here. I think I’ll have to read the entire series all over again!

No. 5 - The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Linus Baker leads a quiet life. At forty, he has a tiny house with a devious cat and his beloved records for company. And at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, he’s spent many dull years monitoring their orphanages.

Then one day, Linus is summoned by Extremely Upper Management and given a highly classified assignment. He must travel to an orphanage where six dangerous children reside – including the Antichrist.

At the orphanage, Linus must somehow determine if these children could bring about the end of days. But their guardian, the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, will do anything to protect his wards. And, as Arthur and Linus grow ever closer, Linus must choose: his duty, or his dreams . . .

This was such an amazing book! Arthur is not actually a father, but he’s certainly the best father figure that these six misfit children could possibly hope for, which is why I included it. Parenting isn’t always about being blood related, after all. It was my favourite book of 2024, so I guess that says it all. Check out the blog post link above for more of my thoughts.

Bonus Books

Here are just some of my books which feature fatherhood: Click the images for more information.

Found something you like the sound of? I hope so! I love to see the father/child relationship played out in books, whether the father in question is good, bad, or somewhere in between.

Sending hugs and love to you if you don’t have anyone to send a Father’s Day card to this year, and I hope that at least one of these stories will bring you comfort and happiness on a day that can be difficult and emotional for some of us.

Happy reading.

Father's DayFatherTo Kill a MockingbirdHarper LeeOh! To Be in EnglandH.E. BatesA Grand ManCatherine CooksonThe House in the Cerulean SeaTJ KluneElizabeth von Arnim

Sharon Booth

Sharon Booth is a hybrid author who writes both small town and cosy fantasy romantic fiction. She’s a member of the RNA and SoA, and has self-published nearly thirty novels, as well as writing the Tuppenny Bridge series for Storm Publishing and two new series for Boldwood Books.

https://www.sharonboothwriter.com