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"Ferocious psychic need and volcanic energy drive this combined memoir, detective story and travelogue" from the author of The Female Eunuch (The New Yorker). After her father died, influential feminist writer and public intellectual Germaine Greer realizes how little she knows about him. She decides to track the life of her father, an Australian intelligence officer during World War II, to uncover the roots of his secrecy and distance. As she painstakingly assembles the jigsaw pieces of the past, Greer discovers surprising secrets about her father, her family, and herself. During her three-year quest, Greer travels from England to Australia, Tasmania, India, and Malta; searches through scores of genealogical, civil, and military archives; and delves into the memories of the men and women who may--or may not--have known Reg Greer. Yet the heart of her "lyrical but brutal elegy" is her own emotional journey, as the startling facts behind her father's façade force her to painfully examine her own notions of truth and loyalty, family and obligation (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). "Anyone who has done this kind of search will identify with Ms. Greer's frustration, admire her persistence, laugh at her accuracy and rejoice in her discoveries." --The New York Times Book Review "The deeply affecting climax is a remarkable feat of family reconstruction." --Publishers Weekly… (more)
User reviews
Greer does find out that her father invented a background for himself, but I cannot say that I feel we have learned much about him. Greer can't decide whether he was remote because he was keeping secrets, or because he was away from her when she was small, or because she was a girl, or because he was shattered by his war experiences. We would be in a better position to judge if Greer had discussed her sister's relationship with their father. She tells us that her father favored her brother, although she doesn't analyze that too deeply either. I respect Greer if she is being considerate of her family's desire for privacy, but maybe she can't do that AND write a book like this.
After the things that I read about her contradictory statements about her family in Christine Wallace's Untamed Shrew, as well as her generally muddled thinking as shown in her books, I am skeptical that we have really learned anything about Greer, or about anything else, unless you count random remarks about eucalyptus trees.
Still, I suppose that Greer's admirers will want to read this.
I liked this a lot - the history and family stuff was great, and she muses a lot about identity and