Imagine the father you have loved and adored (and in this case, sometimes feared) was not at all who you thought he was. Imagine that by not knowing who he really was, you struggled to understand who you really were. Imagine this disconnect between the real and really unreal challenges your abilities to make real connections with men. Now imagine you have the gift of storytelling and you can also draw.
What does that get you?
Well, if you are Laurie Sandell, and this was your life, it gets you a spot on the shelf with other great graphically told stories. That’s right, The Impostor’s Daughter is my new favorite graphic memoir. And if you have been keeping track, this is only my third graphic memoir and I have really enjoyed all of them. Seems like this genre is treating me well, even if the circumstances don’t treat the story tellers themselves very well.
Sandell noticed early on that her father, who was a highly accomplished individual having served in Vietnam, attended and taught at prestigious universities and earned a Juris Doctorate, also seemed very quick to prove himself an authority on all things and was certain that others were out to undermine him. While many might just write this off as being a know-it-all or a bit paranoid, Sandell paid attention to other clues that her sisters and mother chose to ignore.
So before I give it all away, or more so than the book’s title already tells you, Sandell spends much of her early twenties investigating her father, irritating her sisters and confusing her totally-in-denial mother. In all the various roads her digging takes her, Sandell makes some unhealthy choices for herself. In the end, though, it’s the truth about her father that helps her come to terms with her self.
Rating: 4 stars
Pages: 272
Genre: Graphic Memoir