George’s Daughter is a memoir/essay about a daughter’s attempt to live in accordance with her own values, in spite of conflicts with an adored but nonetheless controlling and racist father. Ultimately, her refusal to end a romantic relationship of which her father does not approve, leads to emotionally catastrophic consequences for them both.
George’s Daughter is written in three sections: “To Inhabit,” “To Inherit,” and “To Disown.” A complex story of contradiction, disillusion, and love, George’s Daughter originates in the neighborhood of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, after World War II. During the author’s childhood, Crown Heights was reeling from the traumas of displaced persons, survivors of the Nazi concentration camps, and those who had lost entire families to the war. Decades later, the neighborhood was again traumatized by tensions, discriminations, and disruptions caused by opposing racial and religious politics that continue to this day.
The relationship between George and his daughter evolves against this tumultuous background. These themes will resonate with those who face familial discord when they or a family member does not adhere to conventional expectations, whether around gender, race, class, religion, politics, or culture.
George’s Daughter illuminates how the decision to live one’s life as one must, may cause enormous psychic rupture: A person might lose, but ultimately find again, both their family and their sense of self in the process.
Read a Columbia News interview with Dean Emerita Carol Becker about George's Daughter.