An unorthodox, wildly charming war hero, Tom Carew loomed larger than life in his daughter Keggie's childhood. In his eighties, Tom developed dementia and, as his past slipped away from him, Keggie found herself poring through old diaries, letters, and newspaper articles—reveling in the incredible details of her dad's extraordinary life. In Dadland, Keggie has created a good-humored and moving tribute to her father. Her extremely vivid accounts of Tom's experiences as a special operations agent in World War II are hair-raising; the stories of her often rocky family life (Tom was more suited to adventure than domesticity, and Keggie's mother's mental health suffered for it) are heartfelt and fascinating; and the snippets about caring for her aging father are richly meditative.