Author: Dale Stanten 
Publisher: Infinity Publishing 
ISBN: 9780741464026

I remember preparing to depart from the babysitter’s house and not really wanting to leave. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go home. I loved my parents, my family and the home that they provided for my brother and me. What I hated most about leaving was being seen in the car that my parent’s owned. I was embarrassed to be seen in it. Let me correct that, I was beyond embarrassed. I was so afraid that I would be ridiculed by the other children that I would lie down in the car so that I wouldn’t be seen by anyone. Once I felt we were of a safe distance, I would emerge, thinking that my parents were unwise to my antics.

Can you remember being embarrassed by your parents or something they did? Would you be embarrassed if your mother was a prostitute? The Hooker’s Daughter: A Boston Family’s Saga, written by Dale Stanten, is a memoir set in Boston around the 1950’s. It is an account of a young girl’s survival in, what some may consider a dysfunctional family.

While most children were dealing with normal childhood frets, young Dale had different thoughts. She was not concerned with monsters in the dark or even war for that matter. She was not playing hopscotch or playing with baby dolls. Her biggest concern was the profession her mother had chosen after the family business failed. You guessed it; Dale’s mother was a prostitute.

The other children in the neighborhood were not allowed to play with Dale and she was even kicked out of the Girl Scouts. Everyone feared that she was as sinful as her mother was. Was she partially embarrassed by her mother’s behavior? Well…perhaps she was. Although she and her family were not accepted by society, she loved her mother unconditionally and wanted to always protect her, even if it meant telling a lie.

Reading Dale’s story made me realize that if being seen in an old beat up car was the most I had to worry about, then life was truly grand. I can’t imagine having to go through the things that she and her sister had to go through on a daily basis.

Dale Stanten has given us a compelling story about forgiveness, resilience and emotional growth. This book is a non-judgmental reflection of her life that will have the reader continuously turning the pages. Through her extraordinary challenges in life, she remained strong enough to find peace. This is an engaging well-written and spectacular book and can definitely be an inspiration to those that read it.