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The Kiss - A Secret Life [Paperback]

Kathryn Harrison
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
RRP: £10.99
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Book Description

2 April 1998

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.


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Product details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Fourth Estate Ltd (2 April 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1857027086
  • ISBN-13: 978-1857027082
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 1.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 425,040 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

• ‘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

From the Inside Flap

Heartbreaking and extraordinary, Kathryn Harrison's beautifully written memoir bears witness to the years of her life in which the family bonds of love and loyalty are irrevocably broken by a dark, disturbing passion.

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Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Forget all your preconceptions about this book 4 Mar 2002
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I had heard so much about this book before I read it, and none of the things I had heard were true. Read this book from your own standpoint. Be ready to read with an open mind and set aside your judgments and preconceptions. This book has got the power to shock. Some may not get past the incest aspect. But if you can get past that, if you can see further into what this woman has experienced and what she has to say about it, you will see what this book is really about. You could read this book in one sitting, and I would recommend that. Compelling, fascinating, disturbing, insightful and genuinely harrowing.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I think this is probably one of the most disturbing books that I have ever read. At once shocking and totally fascinating. What a difficult, personal, dark subject to write about - father/daughter incest - but Kathryn Harrison does it so movingly that it breaks your heart. Very much recommended.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing 12 Mar 2005
By Ella
Format:Paperback
I am glad that I read 'The Kiss' as it has opened my eyes to a horror that I previously thought unspeakable. Reading Kathryn Harrison's account of her incestuous relationship with her own father is not an easy thing to do, but I was impressed by her poetic prose and style that managed to shock me to the core and break my heart all at the same time.

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.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Over-hyped- I genuinely fail to see what all the fuss is about.
"The Kiss is not for everybody. Some readers will be outraged by its subject matter; others will find it just too painful to read... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Nicola F (Nic)
4.0 out of 5 stars Eloquent account of incest
Kathryn Harrison details what is a shocking account of one man's manipulation of his estranged daughter. Read more
Published on 8 Oct 2010 by Phoebe Caulfield
5.0 out of 5 stars Little girl lost
A psychology teacher once told me that a womans realtionship with her father will mark her for the rest of her life. Read more
Published on 24 Jun 2009 by T. Gouveia
5.0 out of 5 stars DISTURBING AND PROFOUNDLY SAD...
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... Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2008 by Lawyeraau
5.0 out of 5 stars if you only read one book this year - read this one
Kathryn Harrison affords the reader a glimpse into the complex relationships between the members of a family, their flawed personalities and readiness to exploit a girls hunger for... Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2007 by Bibliophile
5.0 out of 5 stars Incest
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. Read more
Published on 12 Feb 2005
5.0 out of 5 stars THE MOST MOVING BOOK I'VE READ FOR YEARS
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. Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2005
5.0 out of 5 stars A FATHER/DAUGHTER TABOO...
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... Read more
Published on 26 Nov 2004 by Lawyeraau
5.0 out of 5 stars A FATHER/DAUGHTER TABOO...
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... Read more
Published on 5 Nov 2004 by Lawyeraau
5.0 out of 5 stars MOST TOUCHING BOOK I HAVE EVER COME ACROSS
At first I thought i would never understand the core of the affair, by the end did I not just understand i also found myself starting to care about the author and the rest of her... Read more
Published on 9 Jun 2000
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