Dad Alone: How to Rebuild Your Life and Remain an Involved Father After Divorce

Karen F. Danielson, Ph.D., is a research consultant at Laurentian
University who specializes in leisure, textiles, family life, and Japan.

This short, practical, and optimistic book is a helpful resource for
fathers who are experiencing separation or divorce, marriage
counsellors, and couples who are navigating through these difficult
issues on their own. In conversational prose, the author covers
discussing issues with the children, finances, finding a place to live,
healing, staying focused at work, and dealing with rumours, among other
topics.

As a teacher, Clavel had good opportunities to understand his children
and participate in their lives. With few resources he created a new
family dynamic by cooking together with his children, welcoming their
friends, and preparing space for them in his new apartment. He reports
on his discoveries about support from relatives, communications with
teachers, healthy distractions, the little things that mean a lot, and
the differences between being alone and being lonely. Although fathers
in other occupations may not be able to participate as actively in their
children’s lives, Clavel’s experiences are likely to provide a
useful model.

As the author intended, the book does not undermine the role of the
mother or promote divorce as a way to solve marriage problems. Clavel
recognizes that a father is dependent on the fairness of a mother’s
interactions with his children whether he is divorced or not. He also
acknowledges that it is harder work to be a good divorced father. At the
same time, he emphasizes that fathers are important for the well-being
of their children. His assumption is that custody arrangements must
ensure the financial and emotional stability of fathers so that they can
continue to function as providers for their children.