Official Review: A Fathers Right by Anthony Gallo

[kfwilson6]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "A Fathers Right" by Anthony Gallo.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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A Father’s Right is a non-fiction novel written by Anthony Gallo in which he provides an account of his own struggles with the family court system. Anthony’s encounters with the family court system begin when his daughter, Sofia, is four years old and Anthony decides to separate from Sofia’s mother, Jana. This separation commences years of court appearances, minimal visitations, and ongoing heartbreak for Anthony. He recounts every roadblock he encounters while petitioning for the right to spend time with his daughter. He spends years fighting “Parent Alienation”, which is an aggregate of the efforts of Jana, her lawyers, and those affiliated with the court to prevent Anthony from seeing his daughter. He is astounded by the cruel accusations made about him, the lack of compassion he receives from those directly involved in his case, and the way his daughter repeatedly acts either disinterested in him or intimidated by him. A Father’s Right chronicles every step Anthony takes with the sole purpose of being granted time with his only child. He records every court appearance, interaction with Sofia (these are very limited), and phone call he makes to the counselors, lawyers, and law guardians. Anthony leaves no stone unturned in his pursuit of a father-daughter relationship.

Anthony writes a truly heart wrenching story. I was fighting tears by the end of chapter one. Anthony openly shares his love for his daughter. His actions truly show that Sofia is the center of his world. He makes every imaginable sacrifice to earn time with her. His strength to continue fighting in court is a testament to his love for his daughter. The number of scheduled visits with Sofia that end up cancelled would break any parent’s heart. However, each incident strengthens Anthony’s resolve to fight for his right to spend time with Sofia. Even when months go by without a visit, Anthony does not accept defeat.

By the end of the book I was appalled by the lack of compassion so many people had for Anthony. The fact that this is a true account of what many fathers have gone through is astonishing. I learned so much from Anthony’s experiences and so can many other readers. This is not your typical book. It will not entertain. It will not make the reader laugh. It is not meant to be a tale of adventure or mystery. It is simply the story of a real man, a man any of us could walk past on the street, who desperately loves his only daughter. I don’t know how anyone could walk away from this book not wanting to advocate for Anthony and those who are in a similar situation. He doesn't just struggle emotionally; he also grapples with financial problems. He has endless lawyer fees and even has to pay for each visit with Sofia. No matter the emotional and financial burdens his battle causes him, he keeps fighting.

Anthony comes off as a humble man. He wrote this book so that Sofia could one day read about how much her father fought to be with her. He also wrote it to be an advocate for other parents who are fighting similar battles. As a result of his single minded focus to share his story, his experiences are written in an almost conversational way. His writing made me feel like he was sitting next to me and telling me what he was going through. He did not hold back any of his pain and suffering. Every emotion was laid out for the reader without any pretense.

I grant Anthony Gallo 3 out of 4 stars for A Father's Right. I believe he deserves four stars because his story is so genuine and there is so much to learn from him. I felt invested in what was happening to him and wanted to know what happened to Anthony and Sofia past the point at which Anthony ends his book. However, emotions aside, Anthony writes with the intention of putting his story to paper. He was clearly not concerned with his actual writing style. The story is very informally written without any thought for sentence structure, complexity of vocabulary, or cleverness. As a result of this and the extensive typing errors in the book, I have to give Anthony only three stars.

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A Fathers Right
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Like kfwilson6's review? Post a comment saying so!

[KLafser]

This is such a compelling review - thank you! The father's position in custody hearings is one that we often assume will go a particular way. It sounds like it took courage to write this book and lay his emotions out for his daughter. I'm looking forward to reading it!

[kandscreeley]

I have some friends that went through some custody issues. It's really such a shame what happens in the court systems sometimes. It sounds like this is quite an emotional read. I'm glad that Sofia will know what her father did for her. Thanks for the review.

[naicme32]

Divorce is a really felt by the children. the children lacks enough love and one of the parent might end up poisoning the mind of the other thereby creating hate the heart of the children. such children could become drug addicts to run away from pain.

[kfwilson6]

Divorce is a really felt by the children. the children lacks enough love and one of the parent might end up poisoning the mind of the other thereby creating hate the heart of the children. such children could become drug addicts to run away from pain.

Divorce has a huge impact on the children. However, this wasn't actually a divorce. Jana and Anthony were never married so it's just a custody battle. It's all told by Anthony so it's a father's perspective although he does give good insight about how it impacts his daughter. He wants to be with Sofia for his own sake but he wants what is right for her too and he witnesses some of the struggles the court system puts her through.

[kfwilson6]

This is such a compelling review - thank you! The father's position in custody hearings is one that we often assume will go a particular way. It sounds like it took courage to write this book and lay his emotions out for his daughter. I'm looking forward to reading it!

There are some interesting things that happen in Anthony's life while he is going through his custody battle. I couldn't give any spoilers but his life outside of his family is pretty interesting. It adds a bit more to the story.

I wanted to read this because my parents have been divorced since I was 4 so I was really too young to remember any type of custody battle. My dad has never said too much about it so I was very curious to read this and I think it gave me insight into some of what my dad probably felt. Although he was never kept from seeing me, we lived far apart so only saw each other 3 times a year. As if parenting isn't hard enough.

Thanks for reading my review. You always have such thoughtful feedback. I appreciate the encouragement.

[KLafser]

I wanted to read this because my parents have been divorced since I was 4 so I was really too young to remember any type of custody battle. My dad has never said too much about it so I was very curious to read this and I think it gave me insight into some of what my dad probably felt. Although he was never kept from seeing me, we lived far apart so only saw each other 3 times a year. As if parenting isn't hard enough.

Thanks for reading my review. You always have such thoughtful feedback. I appreciate the encouragement.

I really appreciate a book that pulls on something personal and provides new perspective. How would you know at 4, right? And, times were very different then too, the idea that small children could travel a distance alone was not nearly as common as it seems to be today.

I've often wondered about my half-sister's experience. I learned about her when I was 16, and had no interaction with her prior to that. My dad wasn't gone other than for military deployments (that I know of), so he didn't have much interaction with her either. I imagine that is the root of some of the questions she has now. It's a whole different psychology and quite interesting to think about.

Happy to read your reviews, they are quite good! Like you, I'm enjoying the interaction and always appreciate your point of view. THANK YOU!

[qsusan]

Anthony's pain is reflected here. I can only imagine just how heartrenching the book will be. From your review, I can tell that despite the informal language and imperfections in his writing style, Anthony may have achieved at least one of the goals he set. I hope and pray this book has helped Anthony in his struggle to spend time with his daughter.

[Libs_Books]

Thanks for your review and your honesty in sharing. My reservation is that we know there at least two sides to every story of a couple parting - and, in custody battles, often at least three stories - but this book only tells us about one. How do we know that the "cruel accusations" made about him weren't true? He obviously convinced you that he was entirely genuine, and perhaps, if I read the book, he would convince me, too. I do know that this kind of heartache is distressingly common and usually there are faults on both sides, so I don't mean to disparage Anthony or his pain, and I'm sure you're right that there is a lot we can learn from.

[kfwilson6]

Thanks for your review and your honesty in sharing. My reservation is that we know there at least two sides to every story of a couple parting - and, in custody battles, often at least three stories - but this book only tells us about one. How do we know that the "cruel accusations" made about him weren't true? He obviously convinced you that he was entirely genuine, and perhaps, if I read the book, he would convince me, too. I do know that this kind of heartache is distressingly common and usually there are faults on both sides, so I don't mean to disparage Anthony or his pain, and I'm sure you're right that there is a lot we can learn from.

I appreciate your skepticism. I actually thought the same when he first mentioned the accusations and wondered if they were true, would he admit it in his book? He does mention the accusations several times and the investigations that followed. He explains a lot about his daughter's mother and if he were lying, it was a very well-developed lie. I was convinced that everything he spoke of was as true as he saw it to be. There is definitely a lot of information missing simply because we don't know Sofia's or Jana's perspectives and have no justification for Jana's actions. However, I trusted Anthony's accounting and some actions are just never acceptable and I found that with a lot of the things Jana did.

[Jaime Lync]

Sigh, this sounds like the kind of book that would have me all teary-eyed with Anthony when he goes through the struggle and jumping for joy when he wins any small victory. Great review. I wish that he would have it professionally edited so that it can be even more appealing to others.

[Bianka Walter]

This book sounds heavy. It's never nice when custody battles take such a toll on the family, and in the end, it's the kids who suffer.
Poor Anthony though, this sounds like quite an ordeal.
Awesome review.