The Dark Dad: War and trauma - a daughter's tale
by Mary Kisler
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Art historian Mary Kisler grew up in the early 1950s with a father who talked little, whose affection she cherished and whose anger she feared. She later came to understand the trauma that lay behind his dark moods: rejection and violence in his childhood and the brutal experience of being a prisoner of war in Italy and then Germany from late 1941 to 1945. In this affecting memoir, she traces back through her father's life and war record, discovering a man who had suffered but who ultimately found peace of mind among the people he loved most.
Author: Mary Kisler
ISBN: 9781991016560
Publisher: Massey University Press
Published: 10/04/2025
Format: Paperback / softback - Also available as: Electronic book text
About the Author
Mary Kisler MNZM worked for 21 years at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, latterly as Senior Curator, Mackelvie Collection, International Art. In 2016, she was Craig Hugh Smyth Fellow at the Harvard Centre for Renaissance Art, Villa I Tatti, Florence, researching Italian works held in New Zealand Public Collections. Her previous publications include Angels & Aristocrats: Early European art in New Zealand public collections (Godwit, 2010); Finding Frances Hodgkins (Massey University Press, 2019), and as contributing author and coeditor with Catherine Hammond, Frances Hodgkins - European Journeys (Auckland University Press in Association with Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, 2019 and Thames and Hudson, 2019). Kisler also helped to create www.completefranceshodgkins.com.