Absence – ‘The Good Father’ a novel by Noah Hawley

The Good Father
Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk

The Good Father, by Noah Hawley, is a gripping read which looks in-depth at the difficulties of fatherhood. It does this through the most dramatic of prisms when Daniel, a son of divorced parents, is accused of murder. Not just any murder, but the murder of a soon-to-be Presidential Candidate. Dr Paul Allen is left to try to piece together an impossible web of information about his son. He drives relentlessly forward attempting to prove his son’s innocence and trying to forge some kind of bond with his son where none exists. The themes of the book are fatherhood, America’s gun laws and conspiracy theories – themes which are thoughtfully developed. The heart of the book for me, though, is the father/son relationship and what absence does to this.

Following his son Daniel’s arrest for murder, Paul revisits their entire past as he tries to make sense of the path his son has travelled. More importantly, he plagues himself with his own role, or lack of a role, in his son’s life. How much has their lack of connection contributed to the events that have unfolded? Is he to blame for anything that has happened? He is tormented by these questions and he obsessively searches for answers.

This book poignantly describes scenes which are echoed across the country – the absent father. If we did need a book to show us what we already know, about the importance of connection and how some things are irreplaceable, then this book does that. It is an unsettling read, full of guilt at the failings of a parent who has not kept their child at the heart of their lives. But it is only through this particular tragedy that Paul contemplates all of this. Without a murder, would he have pondered the effect his life choices had had on his firstborn son?

As a doctor, Paul Allen wanted to have a job in another State – it was a great opportunity for him. This meant that his child had to travel between States to visit him. Paul is forced to face the consequences of this decision. His rationalisation at the time meant that he imagined that his eight year old son would find these solo plane flights adventurous. As you read you wonder how he could have ever thought this. But people rationalise in this way all the time. The most telling moment comes when this father realises that he could not forge a true bond on infrequent and monthly visits. That the need to be there, to be in the minutiae and the mundane of his son’s life, is the essence of the intimacy bond. He realises too late that when this intimacy hasn’t been present, no future contact can replace it.

It is a thought-provoking book. How much does Daniel’s upbringing impinge on the dramatic events which unfold? This subject is painful as it makes us ponder something which so many people want to ignore – that family breakdown, separation from parents and infrequent contact does have consequences. For most families it won’t be a dramatic murder that happens. But there may well be unhappiness, lack of connection, feelings of insecurity that may haunt the life of a child. What our parents have, or have not, done for us when we were a child reverberates throughout our lives. Children usually have no voice in their parents decisions but they are deeply affected by them.

The Good Father is a tense and riveting read as we continue to wonder – is Daniel innocent? It is also brilliantly researched, well written and powerfully delivered, and its deep themes stayed with me long after I’d finished reading. Whatever the truths or reality of the importance of absence, as I closed the book I was overwhelmed by just one thought: Who would ever want to be Dr Paul Allen and live in the mind of his regrets?