The author has penned a heartfelt memoir about a boy coming of age with an over-competitive and over-controlling father. Young DeLuca’s father emigrates from Italy and opens a successful bakery. But when the boy is just sixteen, his father leaves the family for another woman. Two years later, his father returns and once again dominates the home. With his brother and father, the author starts a bakery. Although it is a successful business, there never seems to be enough money, and the family remains in financial hardship. DeLuca doubts his father but remains loyal to him for the sake of his mother. Years later, he realizes that their father was skimming the profits to pay off secret debts. Growing up, the author is constantly made to feel not good enough, especially when diagnosed with type one diabetes.

A father figure is a powerful mentor and can shape a young life in many different ways. For DeLuca, his self-centered, competitive, and philandering father consistently put himself first—always above the welfare of his wife and family. Growing up in a situation like this, the author could have become a similar tyrant. Instead, with the love and support of his wife, Joanne, he manages to become both a loving husband and a generous father and cannot imagine putting himself and his own victories ahead of his children’s successes. In his book, DeLuca demonstrates that forgiving those who cause you pain is the secret to living a grateful life. This is an earnest memoir that will hit home with readers in similar situations.

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