I'll Never Call Him Dad Again is a poignant, often excruciating, memoir a family's tragedy, written by Caroline Darian. Released 18th March 2025 by Sourcebooks, it's 224 pages and is available in the English translation in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.
This is an unvarnished memoir from the daughter of the woman whose husband drugged and abused her over a period of years, filming his own (and others' abuse). She was unaware of what was happening for *years*.
The writing is plain and unembellished. It's set up as a journal, with dated entries. It's very difficult to read in places, and readers who have experienced sexual/domestic abuse should be aware going into the read that it's not at all easy to read. It's not prurient or sensational at all, and the author/investigators/legal representatives involved are respectful throughout.
The author uses her platform to provide some sobering statistics about the prevalence of "chemical submission" and the associated depressing statistics of prosecuting crimes when often the victim can't remember the trauma accurately (or in the case of Ms. Darian's mother, at all, over a period of years when she was misdiagnosed and feared she was in early onset Alzheimer's).
The author's strength, her mother's incredible resilience, the glimpses of hope and rising advocacy are all important, but it's not clear if the balance is to the positive column at the end. The alternative, remaining silent in the face of actual, real, evil, is even more unthinkable.
Awful (in the literal sense), very well written, and definitely important. It would be a good subject for a book club reading and although it's written accessibly and without technical jargon (and not annotated), it would have value for healthcare professionals and educators/advocates.
Four and a half stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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