Between Them: Remembering My Parents - Softcover

How is it that we come to consider our parents as people with rich and intense lives that include but also exclude us? Richard Ford’s parents—Edna, a feisty, pretty Catholic-school girl with a difficult past; and Parker, a sweet-natured, soft-spoken traveling salesman—were rural Arkansans born at the turn of the twentieth century. Married in 1928, they lived “alone together,” traveling throughout the south. Eventually they had one child, born late, in 1944.

For Ford, the questions of what his parents dreamed of become a striking portrait of American life in the mid-century. Between Them is his vivid image of where his life began and where his parents’ lives found their greatest satisfaction.

Bringing his celebrated candor, wit, and intelligence to this most intimate and mysterious of landscapes—our parents’ lives—the award-winning storyteller and creator of the iconic Frank Bascombe delivers an unforgettable exploration of memory, intimacy, and love.

Richard Ford is the author of The Sportswriter and Independence Day. He is winner of the Prix Femina in France, the 2019 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, and the Princess of Asturias Award in Spain.  He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Canada.  His story collections include the bestseller Let Me Be Frank with You, Rock Springs, and A Multitude of Sins.  He lives in Boothbay, Maine, with his wife, Kristina Ford.