American Daughter: A Memoir

The sharp and surprising true story of a woman who finally sets out to understand her past, and the mother she had one day hoped to forget. Full of unexpected twists and unbelievable revelations, American Daughter is an immersive memoir that will have you on the edge of your seat to the very last page.

For years, Stephanie Plymale, successful CEO and interior designer, kept

her past a fiercely guarded secret. Only her husband knew that her

childhood was fraught with every imaginable hardship: neglect, hunger, poverty,

homelessness, truancy, foster homes, a harrowing lack of medical care, and

worse. Stephanie, in turn, knew very little about the past of her mother, who

was in and out of jails and psych wards for most of Stephanie's formative

years. All this changed when a series of shocking revelations forced Stephanie

to revisit her tortured past and revise the meaning of every aspect of her

compromised childhood.

American Daughter is

the extraordinary true story of a young girl growing up on the wrong side of

the American Dream. Stephanie has slept in blankets on the floor of crowded

apartments, lived in the back seat of a car with her siblings, and spent

decades looking over her shoulder at a mother who might just as easily hug or

harm her. American Daughter is at once a moving account of a troubled

mother-daughter relationship and a meditation on resilience, transcendence, and

ultimately, redemption.