The Kiss: A Secret Life

Description

From the bestselling author of THE BINDING CHAIR, a searing memoir of a four-year affair between the author and her father. 'My father takes my face in his hands. He tips it up and kisses my closed eyes, my throat. I feel his fingers in the hair at the nape of my neck. I feel his hot breath on my eyelids.' Kathryn Harrison's parents married aged 17 but were forced apart by disapproving parents within a year. By which time their only child, Kathryn, had been born. She was not to see her father again until she was ten. Instantly, the two were attracted; they even looked alike. By the time Kathryn was twenty the two had fallen into a passionate affair. Her relationship with her mother had never been easy and now there was this added complication, made worse by the obvious love which still existed between her parents for each other. In this beautiful, honest and shocking account of the years of her affair with her father, Kathryn Harrison confirms her growing reputation as one of the most significant literary voices of our times.

Kathryn Harrison is a graduate of Stanford University and of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her first novel, Thicker than Water, was a New York Times Notable Book, as was her second, Exposure. She is also the author of The Binding Chair, The Seal Wife, A Thousand Orange Trees and Seeking Rapture. She lives in New York City with her husband, the writer Colin Harrison, and their children.

* 'One of the most startling books you are ever likely to read.' Observer * 'Powerfully written, utterly compelling.' Mail on Sunday * 'Shocking, terrifyingly honest -- and beautifully written.' Elle * 'Disturbing, provocative and articulate. One of the most talked-about books of the year.' Cosmopolitan * 'The Kiss is remarkable for its candour, but also for its elegance, its sense of morality, and its generosity of spirit.' Sunday Telegraph