{"product_id":"affliction-growing-up-with-a-closeted-gay-dad-9781647421243","title":"Affliction: Growing Up With a Closeted Gay Dad","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 1937, at the age of nineteen, Ralph Hall, suicidal, revealed his sexual orientation to his grandmother, knowing she would comfort him. He was out for three years afterwards, until an indiscretion sent him back into the closet. At twenty-four, while in the army, he met and married Irene. The couple made their home on the San Francisco Peninsula and had four children. Ralph was an attentive husband and father—albeit with an intense interest in interior design, flower arranging, and fine objects—and a diligent worker who rose to payroll accountant at Standard Oil. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt wasn't until 1975 that Ralph came out to his middle daughter, Laura, telling her that he had once considered his sexuality an aberration, an affliction. She was shocked, as the possibility her father might be gay had never crossed her mind. Irene had known Ralph’s secret for eighteen years, but the two remained married until she died. It was only then that this charismatic man and devoted father, by now in his eighties, could freely express his authentic, gay self.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere, Laura paints a vivid and honest portrait of her beloved father and the effect his secret had on her own life.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A deeply moving personal remembrance.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  “This moving memoir is about not just a daughter, not just a father, but  a whole family, one that’s impossible not to love. Hall's writing is  honest and insightful and her story a comfort and a gem.” \u003cbr\u003e —Victoria Loustalot, author of \u003ci\u003eThis is How You Say Goodbye\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eLiving Like Audrey: Life Lessons from the Fairest Lady of All\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  “This book shares a vital perspective that, until now, was missing from  the LGBTQ community’s understanding of its own history. Hall finally  adds the missing puzzle piece: the voice of the children of gay parents,  a group that has long stood in the shadows. We are given a rare and  precious gift as she warmly invites the reader into the world of her  closeted family and shares a perspective that is deeply loving and raw  in its honesty.” \u003cbr\u003e —Robin Marquis, former national program director of COLAGE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   “\u003ci\u003eAffliction\u003c\/i\u003e is a loving and tender portrait of a relationship and  a family. It’s also an important addition to the history of gay parents  in America and of the particular challenges faced by gay men and women  in the years before Stonewall.” \u003cbr\u003e —Alysia Abbott, author of \u003ci\u003eFairyland: A Memoir of My Father\u003c\/i\u003e, now a Sofia Coppola-produced movie \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  “\u003ci\u003eAffliction\u003c\/i\u003e is one of the most moving and compelling books I've  ever read. It reveals the bravery and the suffering of the gay men who  hid their secrets and carried on. They married, often, and had children.  Laura Hall is one of those children, and she wouldn't trade her father  for anybody’s.” \u003cbr\u003e —Adair Lara, author of \u003ci\u003eNaked, Drunk, and Writing\u003c\/i\u003e and columnist for the \u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  “Laura’s book is one that will touch the heart of anyone who has dealt with coming out in a family setting.”\u003cbr\u003e —Mark Segal, the nation’s most award-winning commentator in LGBTQ media and author of \u003ci\u003eAnd Then I Danced \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  “Hall’s conversational tone and attention to the small details of home  life, as well as to larger issues and emotions, make this a captivating  and sympathetic family story. There are undoubtedly other families with  queer parents who were out to their spouses but not to the outside  world, but many such stories remain hidden. Thanks to Hall for sharing  hers and reminding us not only of the long history of queer parents but  also of the many ways that queer parents and our children have existed  and survived, by choice or circumstance.” \u003cbr\u003e —Dana Rudolph, publisher of the GLAAD Media Award–winning blog \u003ci\u003eMombian\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"She Writes Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53189323653463,"sku":"9781647421243","price":12.34,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/affliction-growing-up-with-a-closeted-gay-dad-9781647421243","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}