“[Plymale’s] lineage, which she traces back to the Revolutionary War, represents a sort of inverse American dream. Descended from wealth and status — one ancestor owned what was the largest ironworks in the world, another was a cotton magnate — her people become less respectable through the generations until the line arrives at Plymale herself, whose own life marks the point where the needle begins to move in a positive direction once again. It’s a story of redemption and forgiveness.”

“Plymale’s memoir is a gut-wrenching and absorbing portrait of one family’s legacy of mental illness and childhood trauma. After her mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Plymale becomes determined to find out more about her past including who her father is. Scenes of her childhood are interspersed with the present day as she tries to get information, which is near impossible because of her mother’s alternate personalities and confabulation. While the timeline can get confusing because of this structure, it won’t matter much to folks who enjoy stories of overcoming the odds, especially in the vein of Educated and The Glass Castle.”

“Much more than a story of a rape and its aftermath, American Daughter–in the tradition of classics like The Glass Castle, LA Diaries and White Oleander–explores in unsparing details the complex interplay between intimate family ties, generational abuse, cataclysmic losses, and the extraordinary and limitless power of compassion and self-discovery. American Daughter illustrates the enormous strength and will it takes for anyone to choose love.”

“ Plymale has written supersedes the journey of perseverance with an investigation into her family’s fascinating but tragic past. When Plymale’s mother announced that she was dying of lung cancer, the author decided to learn more about her family history while she still could. For starters, she had no idea who her father was. Her mom often claimed that she was related to George Washington—which everyone dismissed as either a delusion or an outright lie. And when ill, her mom had often taken on alternate personalities, including a sad 11-year-old girl who was always afraid of getting pregnant. What, Plymale had long wondered, was that really about?”

This beautiful memoir is a testament to how the right partnership in adulthood can redeem even the hardest upbringing, and how even the temptation of great wine, flirtation and a snowy day with a handsome client can’t beat finding love in your own relationship again, even if it means pretending you’re strangers at a restaurant.