Interstellar, The Last of Us, Disney’s Moana, and Shakespeare’s King Lear. What could a Christopher Nolan epic, a video game turned HBO epic, and a Disney adventure possibly have in common with one of the most famous works in the English literary canon? Quite a lot, it turns out. And if you haven’t been living under a rock since 2008, you’ll also recognise the infamous line: “I have a very particular set of skills…”—delivered with icy precision by Liam Neeson as he begins his health-and-safety-gone-frankly-a-bit-feral search for his Taken daughter. And I would mention Aftersun, a coming-of-age film about Sophie and her father as they holiday in Turkey, but those thoughts are strictly reserved for Therapy. If you know, you know.

Father–daughter relationships in popular culture have taken an emotionally charged centre stage in recent years, exploring everything from grief and trauma to surrogate parenthood, misunderstood protection, and even scientific brilliance passed through generations.

On screen, stage, and even video games. And in literature, whether it’s Mr Bennet, Atticus or Prospero, these emotionally charged, fractured, and often rebellious relationships really know how to tug at our hearts.

So what better way to celebrate June and upcoming Father’s Day than with 3 great reads that explore what it means to be a dad? Meanwhile, I’m off to bawl my eyes out at another great father/child love story – one of the greatest of our time – Finding Nemo.

Enjoy these literary picks for Father’s Day.

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How to Kill Your Family – Bella Mackie
Not actually a step-by-step guide, which is either a blessing or a disappointment, depending on your current beef with your fam.
Witty, weird and wildly entertaining, How to Kill Your Family is the outrageously funny fictional memoir of Grace Bernard, who has vowed revenge on all of her father’s family.
I read it cover to cover in one short sitting. I am a big fan of what one Goodreads reviewer described as the book ‘rambling on’. Clearly, Grace Bernard has some ‘issues’. I could not and would not put it down, and didn’t see the ending coming.

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Other People’s Pets – R.L. Maizes
La La is denied a regular life when she’s abandoned by her mother and raised by her locksmith-turned-thief father. She becomes his accomplice, and as a reader, I couldn’t help rooting for both of them. This is a highly imaginative and easy read, and La La and her father are both unusual characters who I couldn’t help but love.
A really unique story of love, loss, pets and… robbery that explores the lengths someone will go to in support of a parent who raised you the best they could, even under questionable circumstances.

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Please Ignore Vera Dietz – A.S. King
This is not a book that is going to give you warm, fuzzy feelings. It is a heartbreak with deep-rooted daughter/dad problems. If you like your literature off the wall and a bit quirky, you’ll probably enjoy this. The narration is extremely straightforward, which I enjoyed, and every single character feels authentic, including the way father/daughter and wider family dynamics were handled. Vera Dietz is a heroine, and the repairing of her relationship with her father is powerful. They do not have their ‘hug it out’ moment, but instead it is quietly honest and awkward. Read this if you’re tired of Hollywood endings and want something messy, but hopeful.