Fransson’s memoir, Loving the Enemy: When the favorite parent dies first, is the chronicle of her ongoing contention with her demanding father throughout her life until his decline in health in his late 90s. He was a man of few words and fewer overt affections. When her mother died before him, Catherine grappled with how to care for him in other than tense estrangement. She found deeper understanding in observing his personality day-by-day and in his stories of early deprivation. This memoir reveals how estrangement can be overcome with courage, time and an open heart.
