I was able to interview T Kira Madden for Bookstr, an online platform, during one of three special interviews I conducted on that platform, about this beautiful book. I found it a refreshing, lovely memoir, so different from most of the memoirs that are often heralded in the genre. A coming of age story for a queer author who is also a woman of color is rare; rarer still is one told well as this one is.

I kept hearing about this memoir from my fellow rabid readers and so I knew I needed pick it up. Madden's way with words completely drew me in and I found it hard to extricate myself. Escaping into memoirs is one of my favorite ways of learning about someone else's experience, something different from my own, and Madden's candidness allowed me to do just that. Reading about her life, the good and the bad and the hard, was an honor. Her story will stick with me for a long time.

This is a gorgeous book. Beautifully written, seductive, hypnotic, experimental, and sad as they come. I thought I'd be disabled by the second person parts, but it all felt like one continuous dream.

T Kira’s take on family relations, or lack there of, is spot on. Her voice as an adolescent reflecting back, and as she comes into adulthood with the perspective maturity brings is so vividly entertaining. T Kira tackled a much talked about subject with humor and freshness - I was happily surprised and found myself laughing out loud many times. I can’t wait for her next project. This was phenomenal.

This was raw, and stunning. I don't typically jump on essay collections; it's never been my favourite genre. I could not put this down.

The writing in this is stunning. Madden weaves many threads together; images she casually throws out in one essay will be brought back in, shown a new light in another essay. Everything is so intentional, and it gives this collection an added weight that settles on you. I haven’t stopped thinking about this memoir for months. This is such an interesting exploration of father-daughter relationships and mother-daughter relationships, of agency, of what it means to grow up, of sexuality and power. Highly recommended.

This was a really touching memoir. Madden's prose shines, and her sparse writing style makes it a powerful read. I recommend it for anyone who has complicated relationships with their family or parents and who struggles with finding their identity.

I included LONG LIVE THE TRIBE OF FATHERLESS GIRLS in a round-up at Book Riot of the best innovative fiction of 2019: https://bookriot.com/2019/11/07/innovative-nonfiction-from-2019/

This is a memoir built by vivid literary essays that cover everything from sexual assault to the culture of Boca Raton Florida. Each piece fits like a jigsaw puzzle and when put together create a masterpiece. Stories about figuring out if she was gay, running with an elite crowd in high school, and dealing with her name recognition and perceived privilege, but lack thereof.

T Kira Madden is the daughter of Steve Madden of Steve Madden shoes. This isn't addressed very early in the book, but it haunts a good deal of it. Getting privilege due to the name, but it comes with abandonment, drug addiction, physical abuse, instability, and trauma. She has extended family where she finds some connection. It isn't until a big reveal in the end that she brings the narrative home. The timing and storytelling are just perfect. I love that part included photos. A wonderful journey and memoir.

Absolutely loved this. Touching, relatable and also a bit gossipy because of so many recognizable names.

This is a really beautiful, heartfelt, and emotional memoir that was a joy for me to read. These essays lean darker than many I've read in memoirs, but Madden's more experimental writing style and the focus on her chaotic and dysfunctional family resonated so much with me. This pulled me in pretty quickly, and sometimes that can be difficult for memoir-based essays. I'm really excited to see where Madden goes from here!

Absolutely stunning writing! T Kira Madden is amazing at embodying the voices of younger versions of herself—when she's describing her tween years, it feels as though a bright tween is telling you about her life, in lucid, writerly detail, fully entrenched in her mindset, her perspective, her identity. At times I wished there was a bit more of a grounding, central narrative—a continuous thread that would make the book more cohesive as a memoir, rather than a collection of gorgeous essays. This is something we've seen a lot of in recent years: books that are marketed as memoirs, but would perhaps be more honestly described as "memoir[s] in essays." But this should not deter readers! This is a beautiful book, which explores identity—racial, sexual, familial, socio-economic—so thoughtfully and treat its subject (family) with a perfect balance of scrutiny and respect, embracing and reflecting the complexities of loving-though-sometimes-troubled parent-child relationships.

3.5 rounded up. I received this book free and early thanks to Net Galley and Bloomsbury in exchange for this honest review, and I am sorry to be late providing it. The truth is, I couldn’t decide what to do with it. There was a tremendous amount of buzz in advance, and indeed, Madden is a talented word smith. This is also one of the strangest books I have ever read.

In a series of essays, Madden discusses her childhood and adolescence, growing up as an heir to the Madden shoe empire, provided with every material advantage, but also strangely unwelcome in her own home. It’s the ultimate story of alienation, one in which her father’s primary goal as a parent seems to be to pretend she isn’t there—until he goes to jail, anyway.

Kids that are ignored by their parents act out to get their attention. This is true across all social classes, though the form of the acting out varies. Kira isn’t invited to accompany her father anywhere, and he doesn’t talk to her when he’s home. He and her mother have frightening drug and alcohol addictions that increase the lack of contact and the dearth of affection their daughter receives. She can’t make friends and bring them home. So here’s this rich girl with money, unlimited time to burn, a house full of drugs and booze, internet access, and a head full of resentment. What could possibly go wrong?

In many ways, Kira’s writing breaks up stereotypes right and left, and her prose is crystalline and heartbreakingly, brutally frank. There’s so much that is good here. At the same time, I have to say that being neglected while rich is nowhere near as bad as being neglected while poor. It sounds cold, but there it is.

T. Kira Madden has lit up the literary world with her debut, and it will be interesting to see what comes next.

T Kira Madden is not holding back. Her writing is penetrating and her stories are painful. There is so much trauma in this book and it being a memoir made that harder to bear. I don’t know that I would choose to read this again, but I did find this book to be poignant, impressive, and powerful. Thank you to Net Galley and Bloomsbury publishing for sharing the e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, Net Galley for the ARC . All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this collection of essays. The author writes beautifully and her descriptions made her story that much more enjoyable. Now, I cannot relate to her experiences growing, but I did grow up within the same city. Not Boca, but Miami and Hollywood. There were certain stories of hers that resonated with me more than others. Again, this story was beautifully written. It did read like a eulogy almost. I give this one 3.5 stars ⭐️

This is the story of a young woman who grows up in a household with neglectful parents who are too focused on their own addictions to parent. While this is not a commentary on Ms. Madden's life, I had problems with the presentation. I felt like a framework for the story was missing. I didn't feel the environment, as stated in the book summary, was illustrated as anything different than what many teens go through. Too many parts of Ms. Madden's life were just missing. I also struggled with a non-existent timeline. The story bounced around and then near the end completely jumps backwards in time. After finishing the book, the reasoning for this is understandable; however, it does not negate the confusion and awkwardness of how it was accomplished. Finally, for a book that touts itself as a memoir about coming to terms with being queer, I felt this aspect of Ms. Madden's life was completely ignored. Yep, she likes women. But there was no turmoil presented, no backlash, no questioning, nothing. And if she didn't feel any, then I am glad because questioning yourself is a horrible thing to do; however, it would have been nice to recognize the absence since many young women might question themselves as they read this book.

I really enjoyed this powerful memoir. Heartbreaking and dark, this is not a lighthearted read, but definitely worth it

What a powerful memoir! There is no sugar coating here. It’s a gritty read. I found T Kira Madden’s voice to be so brave and honest. As a mother it broke my heart. I have such respect and admiration when memoirs are put out there with such truth and honesty.

Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls⠀
A Memoir by T Kira Madden ⭐⭐⭐⭐⠀
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I really enjoy memoirs. Usually, when I pick up a memoir, I know a little something about the author. I didn't know a single thing about T Kira Madden going into this. This woman is bi-racial, gay, and grew up with wealthy parents with substance abuse problems. While I can't personally relate to those aspects of her life, I found her stories about being an awkward young girl trying to navigate adolescent relationships with both boys and girls to be very familiar. I had to chuckle a few times when I thought, wow she really nailed exactly what that was like. Parts of this book gave me warm and nostalgic feelings, and other parts made me cringe. It's a roller coaster of events and emotions, with some discomfort and a few completely delightful surprises. It's powerful and beautiful. Disturbing. Brave. Provocative. And so important. T Kira Madden's willingness to be open and vulnerable is going to have a remarkable impact in the lives of many. ⠀
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Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls is a poetic, significant, and stunning memoir. ⠀
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*content warning for discussions of sexual assault, substance abuse, and brief mention of suicide. ⠀

This book surprised me in so many ways. As someone who is biracial and grew up in a city where I was often the only person of a different ethnicity in my advanced courses, I found myself thinking of my own experiences as I read. I cried many times as she struggled to parent herself, while facing assault, neglect, and confusion throughout the book. My heart broke as she continually tried to connect with her loved ones, but never seemed to have the relationship she desired.