Book ~ "Dreamer's Daughter: Surviving My Childhood and Raising My Father" (2026) Lori Thicke

From Goodreads ~ In a mining town where hope is as tapped out as the gold, a mother abandons her two children, leaving them in the custody of their free-spirited father. Colorful and larger-than-life, Dacker is a dreamer who fails spectacularly at everything except loving his kids. When they lose everything in a house fire, Dacker considers this the ultimate freedom and leads his children on a cross-country road trip that will force them to rely on his wits and dubious judgment. Amid the chaos, Lori must raise herself and her younger brother - and, on occasion, her father. When she strives for independence, she discovers that it’s hard to leave home when home has wheels and keeps following you around.

"Dreamer’s Daughter" is a life-affirming story about forgiving our parents - and ourselves. It’s a celebration of the love we find in even the most unconventional families, and how sometimes we need to leave home to find our way back.

I like reading memoirs and bios/autobios, especially when they happen here in Canada.

This is the author's memoir about growing up with a father who was loving and charismatic but rarely able to provide stability. After Lori and Brad, her younger brother, are abandoned by their mother, their father, Dacker, raises them on his own while chasing a series of big dreams and business ventures that rarely work out. As a result, the family moves frequently, struggles financially and lives an unpredictable lifestyle. The author often finds herself taking on adult responsibilities at a young age, helping care for her brother and, in many ways, looking after her father. Despite the challenges, she shares many adventures with him and has a deep bond with him. 

This memoir follows the author from childhood into adulthood as she tries to make sense of her unconventional upbringing, her relationship with her absent mother and the impact her father's choices had on her life.

I thought this book was okay. I found myself frustrated with the choices her father (whose brother was the late Alan Thicke's father) made and his belief that everything would work out (sometimes it did but usually it didn't). I was also frustrated with the actions the author made as a teenager, though they can be excused since she was dealing with the bad decisions her parents had made. The memoir ends in 1986 as she is heading off to Paris, Dacker had driven to Mexico and Brad was living on Vancouver Island. It would have been nice to have a summary chapter at the end to let us know what happened to her, Dacker and Brad in the last 40 years. As a head's up, there is swearing and drug use.