The Kiss

This is not a satisfying or easy read, but true stories don't have happy endings, and I certainly do not regret reading this book. It is an important story, and I see Harrison's reason for writing it as a couragious break for freedom from the emotional scars and memories that have bound her for so long. I congratulate her for this piece of work, as it shows that victims can become stronger than the abusers, which is an inspiring and reassuring thought.

Upsetting and horrifying as it was, I feel my eyes have been opened by this book and I think that is an important read for everyone in our society.


Incest   February 12, 2005
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

The book is an emtional look through the eyes of an incest survivor. The book is well written and accounts the life filled with manipulations. I am absolutely amazed that this child found the courage to survive.


THE MOST MOVING BOOK I'VE READ FOR YEARS   January 14, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I have just finished this book, and dried my tears! This is a beautiful, moving testament to one woman's survival of a childhood which would have pushed most people into insanity. I cannot find words to express how wonderfully written it is. It is in no way self indulgent, but shows a remarkable insight into her parent's weaknesses and motivations, as well as her own responses to the abuses she suffered. Like another reader who has reviewed this book, I would very much like to know how she came to this point of clarity in her life.

It is so heartening to know that she now seems to have a loving marriage and children. Who can tell to what extent the past still haunts her though? Please Kathryn, write a sequel. This book left me longing to meet the person, and give her a big hug. This book is both an inspiration, and a sobering comment on how much damage can be done by weak and immature parents to a vulnerable child.


A FATHER/DAUGHTER TABOO...   November 26, 2004
Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle)
21 out of 23 found this review helpful

This is an elegantly written memoir, searingly painful, yet, at the same time, strangely compelling, about a young woman who grew up in a dysfunctional household, raised primarily by her grandparents. Her undemonstrative mother, who lived apart from her daughter during her formative years, was emotionally distant, and her father, from whom her mother was divorced, was physically absent.

When she was reunited with her father at the age of twenty, her hunger for love and affection was such that an unfatherly kiss led to a consensual and obsessive sexual affair with her biological father, an ordained minister. It was an obsession in which her own mother was seemingly complicit, treating her daughter as if she were a rival for the affection of the man that they both loved. The author's unseemly obsession with her father would torment and haunt her for years.

This is a beautifully told story about a parental betrayal so incomprehensible that it will leave the reader aghast. The author infuses the book with a sadness that is heartbreakingly palpable. Her evocative and lyrical prose, spare and intense, elevates this otherwise sordid and tawdry tale, making it a haunting memoir of a past that is best forgotten.