What does grief look like when an estranged father dies without saying a last farewell?

This is a question I grappled with for years, and when the call came that my father – whom I hadn’t seen in fifteen years – had died, I experienced what this grief felt like.

In my debut memoir, Speak #TRUTH Lies, about Healing from Family Estrangement, I bare my soul with raw vulnerability and unflinching honesty. Join me on a harrowing journey as I unravel the poignant story of a fractured father-daughter relationship. This is a powerful story of self-discovery, of healing from childhood traumas and letting go of what no longer serves us.

What readers are saying:

Dear Vig,
Congrats on your book. Thank you so much for writing it and having it published. I am deeply moved by your work. […] I cried so much when I read the ‘Whore’ chapter. […] Your book opened my eyes and left me full of emotions. Beautiful writing. Can’t wait to read your next one. I will definitely recommend it to my friends and colleagues at school.
What a read! Best, Karin in Austria

Thank you, Karin, for your kind words 💛

👉 More on what readers are saying

Here is the book blurb: In July 2018, Vig, at fifty-one, and her eleven-year-old daughter, Ruby, arrive on Atløy Island to bury her father, a sea captain. Set in the stunning landscape of coastal Norway, Vig weaves the natural beauty around her into the complexities of loss and the weight of unspoken words. Amidst a labyrinth of emotions, Vig recounts her deeply personal experience and delves into the conflicted feelings that surge within her – a profound mixture of guilt, shame, regret, heartache, anguish, confusion and anger. “I have no right to grieve him,” she writes.

From journals and documents her father left behind, Vig uncovers — not only — the truth of the man her father was but a narrative of her own life she previously knew nothing about. Triggered by these discoveries, she recalls a childhood where her father, mostly absent, loomed like a large domineering figure she feared. “Why did you have to be so hard on me, Dad?” she asks. “What would our life be like if I wasn’t so scared of you?”

Preparing for his funeral, the arrival of her father’s family, and attempting to put her father’s dire financial affairs in order, these probing questions lead her to explore the truth behind her fear and how it has impacted her whole life, up until this moment. When the full force of childhood trauma hits her like a tsunami, will she heal from her painful past, and can she find a way to reconcile with her father after his death? 

Speak Truth Lies offers a captivating exploration that illuminates the profound impact estrangement can have on one’s sense of self, a sense of belonging and the enduring quest for closure.