‘Daddy, We Hardly Knew You’

When her father died in 1983, Germaine Greer realized how little she knew about him. What had happened during World War II to make this charming but distant man draw a "curtain of silence" around himself? Why had he never spoken of his family? Why had he never shown her the love she craved? In this deeply moving book, Greer tells of the impassioned search she made for the truth about her father--a search that led her to a new understanding of herself as well.

Her quest lasted three years and took her from England to Australia to Tasmania, India, and Malta; through scores of genealogical, civil, and military archives; and into the memories of the men and women who may--or may not--have known Reg Greer.

Yet the heart of Greer's narrative is her own emotional journey, as the startling facts behind the façade her father had constructed force her painfully to examine her own notions of truth and loyalty, family and obligation.

Praise for Daddy, We Hardly Knew You

"A big, bold book . . . Ferocious psychic need and volcanic energy drive this combined memoir, detective story and travelogue from first to last."--The New Yorker

"Riveting."--Time