Between Them

From American master Richard Ford, a memoir: his first work of nonfiction, a stirring narrative of memory and parental love

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” on the road, traveling throughout the South. Eventually they had one child, born late, in 1944.

For Ford, the questions of what his parents dreamed of, how they loved each other and loved him 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.

In this quietly powerful portrait, Ford illuminates:

• A Son’s Tribute: An honest attempt to understand his parents, Parker and Edna, not just as a mother and father, but as people with lives that both included and excluded their only child.
• The Traveling Salesman: A portrait of his father, a sweet-natured Arkansan who spent fifteen years on the road with his wife before their son was born late in their lives.
• Mid-Century American South: A vivid depiction of life on the road in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi during the 1930s and ’40s, seen through the eyes of two people making a world for themselves.
• Family History: A powerful exploration of memory and intimacy, piecing together a past from fleeting moments, old photographs, and the enduring gaps between what a child can know and what his parents truly were.

Richard Ford is the author of The Sportswriter; Independence Day, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award; The Lay of the Land; and the New York Times bestseller Canada. His short story collections include the bestseller Let Me Be Frank With You, Sorry for Your Trouble, Rock Springs and A Multitude of Sins, which contain many widely anthologized stories. He lives in New Orleans with his wife Kristina Ford.