Colour Me Father: An Open Letter To My Son by Paolo Hewitt
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Synopsis: On August 21st 2015 at 10.30 pm in an Archway hospital, my son Rafi Supino Arif came into my life. It was of course a momentous occasion, filled with all kinds of emotions. But as he started to grow, one thought kept repeating itself in my mind. Would I write about him or the experience of raising a son? The answer was always no. There was no handle for me to grab onto so I put it to one side. Until his first birthday. It was there that Rafi first heard applause and the look on his face hit something inside of me. Within a week I had begun writing Colour Me Father.
Synopsis: On August 21st 2015 at 10.30 pm in an Archway hospital, my son Rafi Supino Arif came into my life. It was of course a momentous occasion, filled with all kinds of emotions. But as he started to grow, one thought kept repeating itself in my mind. Would I write about him or the experience of raising a son? The answer was always no. There was no handle for me to grab onto so I put it to one side. Until his first birthday. It was there that Rafi first heard applause and the look on his face hit something inside of me. Within a week I had begun writing Colour Me Father.
One of the first memoirs I read this year and it intrigued me right from the first page. The book is written as a long letter from the author to his son Rafi. What wows me is the intimate insight into the father-son dynamic that Paolo writes with. The stylizing of the writing although not my favorite fits perfectly with this story. As the story progressed we learn more about Paolo's background, his relationships with other people in Rafi's life, and just the growth of Paolo turning into a father. Not everything is sunshine and roses (as a parent I know this) but it is raw and real. The shining star of this is that right, the rawness, and reality of the story.
Memoirs have a boxy sense to them, here we are pulled into the world and becoming a new parent right along with Paolo. So what stopped this from being a five star in my book. While the whole story is written in as an epistolary, the length of it was a bit too long. At the time I felt driven a bit away from the story as there is nothing to break the story so it is continuous. You can't exactly just stop it or you will lose your place. Other than that the story is a great piece of work. One of my favorite lines is towards the end of the novel
"And you, my darling young son, will look up at me - and you will smile"
I recommend this book for any reader of Memoirs and Family Dynamics
This book can be purchased at Paolo's personal website
This book can be purchased at Paolo's personal website
