Fathers and Sons

<p><i>Was he thinking, do I have to be this kind of boy to survive? Is this what being a boy is?</i><br><br>As a boy growing up on the south coast of England, Howard Cunnell''s sense of self was dominated by his father''s absence. Now, years later, he is a father, and his daughter is becoming his son.<br><br>Starting with his own childhood in the Sussex beachlands, Howard tells the story of the years of self-destruction that defined his young adulthood and the escape he found in reading and the natural world. Still he felt compelled to destroy the relationships that mattered to him.<br><br>Saved by love and responsibility, Cunnell charts his journey from anger to compassion, as his daughter Jay realizes he is a boy, and a son.<br><br>Most of all, this is a story about love - its necessity and fragility, and its unequalled capacity to enable us to be who we are.<br><br>Deeply thoughtful, searingly honest and exquisitely lyrical,<i> Fathers & Sons</i> is an exploration of fatherhood, masculinity, authenticity and family.</p>