Spy Daughter, Queer Girl: In Search of Truth and Acceptance in a Family of Secrets

Available

Product Details

Price
$29.95
Publisher
Latah Books
Publish Date
Pages
248
Dimensions
5.5 X 8.5 X 0.69 inches | 0.99 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781957607030
BISAC Categories:

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About the Author

Leslie Absher is a journalist and essayist. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Independent, Salon, Huffington Post, Ms., Greek Reporter, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Her father joined the CIA before she was born. When she was a baby, her family moved to Athens, Greece. Just in time for a coup. She spent years trying to learn what her Cold War father's role was in that event. Her memoir Spy Daughter, Queer Girl is about growing up with a spy and the cost of keeping secrets. She received a master's in education from Harvard, taught G.E.D. to high school dropouts, and currently teaches writing and study skills to middle school and high school students. She lives in Oakland with her comic book writer/lawyer wife.

Reviews

"The fierceness of Absher's courageous quest to learn the gut-wrenching truths of her father's obfuscations parallels her search for her own truths in struggling to know herself as a gay woman....This book is a treasure."

--Kathryn Watterson, author of Women in Prison, Not by the Sword, and I Hear My People Singing


"A riveting examination of identity and how the people who raise us make us-and how we all must continually remake ourselves. A moving portrait of a father-daughter relationship defined by secrets so big they spanned continents. Absher writes with heart, humor, and the grace that comes with forgiveness-the ultimate mission impossible."

--Jessica Pearce Rotondi, author of What We Inherit: A Secret War and a Family's Search for Answers


"Leslie tells her story with soul-searing honesty, plenty of self-deprecation and humour. In working through her own story, confronting her difficult past, she's revealed the human damage - most often to innocents - inflicted by the espionage "game" played out on the global chessboard."

--Ian Callaghan, producer of the Audible Original series My Dad the Spy


"A gut-wrenching portrait of a daughter in search of her father's love, affection and attention, with Greece as a backdrop and the CIA always in the shadows. It is a cautionary tale about the effects of parental neglect, and ultimately a long overdue and touching reconciliation between father and daughter."

--Marc Polymeropoulos, former CIA senior intelligence officer and author of Clarity in Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the CIA

"As the child of intelligence officers, I was deeply moved by Leslie Absher's book. More than a poignant memoir, it is a thrilling detective story where the stakes are both unique to the child of an intelligence officer and painfully universal. It is a beautiful and expertly crafted exploration of our need for love, connection, and home. Her story broke my heart and engrossed me the whole way."

--Sophia Glock, cartoonist and author of the graphic memoir Passport

"Without a drop of sentimentality but with a giant heart and a fresh, assured voice, Absher explores the roles of memory, secrets, and the grief that comes from what we hide and what we leave behind---and what we simply cannot."

--Natalie Bakopoulos, associate professor and author of Scorpionfish and The Green Shore


"In rich crisp prose, Absher immerses the reader into a world of espionage, loss, love, and becoming."

--Kacy Tellessen, author of Freaks of a Feather: A Marine Grunt's Memoir