What Happened to the Life We Knew?

Dear Dad Novelette Written by Lisa Prysock

Published 10.20.26

Independently Published

Genre: Letters & Correspondence, Christian Short Stories

5 Stars!

I cried my way through Dear Dad. My parents never divorced, and neither have I, but I have seen the impact divorce has on children. Lisa M. Prysock’s novelette helped me understand more deeply the thoughts and heartache that can be silent behind their eyes and smiles.

Telling Katy’s story through letters to her father was an excellent choice. It felt like hearing a precious daughter pour out what she couldn’t make sense of. Where is Dad? Is he coming home? Will I see him again? Those are my words for the uncertainty I felt in her letters. She missed her father and the familiar life she knew. I felt that longing so deeply.

People say children adapt, and they do. But Katy’s letters made me think about how much a child may still be hurting while learning to live with everything that has changed. Every word and every emotion felt painfully honest.

I finished this book very encouraged. Jesus makes the difference. Reading the Bible helped renew Katy’s thinking as she learned to persevere through circumstances she couldn’t simply fix. Her growing relationship with Jesus mattered in how she faced what had happened to her.

Katy had been hurt so deeply. Seeing her surrender that hurt to Jesus and begin to forgive ... that encouraged me so much. The pain was real, and so was the difference He made in her life.

I’m grateful Lisa let us hear this daughter’s heart. It made me think about the children around us whose smiles may tell us very little about what they’re carrying … and about the hope in Jesus that I want them to know.

I received an advanced reader digital copy of Dear Ded by Lisa M. Prysock. All opinions are entirely my own.