My Father's House: a Memoir of Incest and of Healing

This is the 1987 international, award-winning bestseller that broke the silence on incest.

Sylvia Fraser was a bubbly child, a popular teenager, and an award-winning journalist. Yet, from age 7 she unknowingly shared her body with a ‘twin’ who lived a separate life from her. This Other Self was created to do the things child Sylvia was too frightened, too ashamed, too repelled to do - the secret things daddy made her do. For four decades Sylvia was unaware of this sexual relationship with her father. Her astonishing memoir reveals how she broke through amnesia to discover and embrace the tortured self she left behind. It is a testament to courage, and to the wisdom of forgiving others so as to forgive one’s self.

“Extraordinary. . . .As telling a chronicle of the times as The Catcher in the Rye or To Kill a Mocking Bird. Fraser demonstrates that the cycle of abuse can stop with the victim only when she decides to cast off the role” - New York Times

“My Father’s House has the tension and pace of a detective novel - except that the detective is part of the narrator’s self, and so is the murder victim. A beautifully written and ultimately healing story by an amazing and courageous woman” - Margaret Atwood

“Haunting, courageous and compelling. Fraser recreates the emotional and psychological impact of father-daughter with exacting (and sometimes shocking) realism, but the true strength of this book is the sheer artfulness of its prose. . . . a literary tour de force”- Boston Herald

“This is a rare piece of writing that combines in a visceral way the powerlessness and terror of being a child at the mercy of a frequently unjust adult world. Fraser has truly traveled into her own heart of darkness, unraveled a story of terrible pain and ugliness and, most remarkable of all, woven the threads together again with rare eloquence, compassion and bravery. This is a book about fear and about secrets. Finally, though, MFH is about vanquishing those demons and laying them to rest” - Mademoiselle

“Suspenseful and accessible. Fraser has created a stunning psychological portrait of herself as a child. Here is a strong woman strongly fighting to be whole” - Middlesex News

“Fraser turns her experience into compelling detective work” - Kansas City Star

“Powerful. . . .an intense and searching memoir to which Fraser brings literary gifts, vital insights, and a remarkable capacity for forgiveness. Her continuing candor is exemplary; she has transformed tragic circumstances into a compelling work and restored herself as well”- Kirkus Reviews

“Chilling and eloquent. . .a testament to the fact that Fraser has finally made herself whole”- Philadelphia Inquirer

“Fraser tells her story with eloquence, compassion, and almost unbearable candor”- Library Journal

“My Father’s House is a unique book. I have never come across its like before, the story of a fragmented human being searching alone to find the mystery of her own incompleteness. It is a frightening book because it reveals so clearly how fragile both consciousness and memory are, and how brutish violence can sever the self; it is a courageous book, about pain and grief and yet, about love. A moving book written with dignity and restraint. A beautiful book” - novelist Adele Wiseman

“The minefields of childhood have rarely been explored with such devastating effect” - novelist Timothy Findley

“Fraser has pulled all the stops in terms of honesty, candor, and forthrightness. It is a book that evokes tears and demands attention. Read it”- Jack McClelland, publisher

“So skillfully crafted that this reader found it almost impossible to put down”- Women’s Review of Books