Stories from the Sheriff’s Daughter

Stories from the Sheriff’s Daughter is an interesting and fun read. The voice of the twelve-year-old protagonist rings true with sharp memories of her years living in the unpretentious bungalow connected to the very busy Burleson County Jail in a small Texas town in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was a bit reminiscent of Scout’s voice in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Her father is the county sheriff, and in each of the twenty-six chapters a different situation takes place, with her father always the silent and wise one who could defuse almost any situation by quietly talking to the those who found themselves on the wrong side of the law. He was definitely her hero, as well as mine as a reader.

The relationships between her and her older brothers, wild Bill and the studious Walter, are believable, witty, and candid. Siblings can keep things rocking ’round the clock even when their father is not the county sheriff. But with a dedicated sheriff-father, there were all kinds of things she witnesses closely, though second-hand, as she comes of age.

Her mother is a quiet force of nature as she takes care of her family while also cooking all the meals for all the prisoners in the jail every day. In the days before cellphones and microwaves, she manages to keep the food warm and ready as her sheriff-husband comes and goes, day and night, on calls throughout the county. Her mother’s intolerance for wife-beaters and domestic abusers shows up plainly in their meals when comparing them to the other prisoner’s meals. She quietly shows she is no one’s doormat.

But with a dedicated sheriff-father, Lareida experiences the rippling effects of murder, suicide, gambling addiction, rape, alcoholism, and so much more. (The author actually grew up in a county jail while her father was sheriff, and later her mother became sheriff. The author changes the names, characters, places, and incidents in this amazing book. She writes in the prevalent Texas colloquialism of the time.)

Each chapter has a clever title and is like a free-standing short story, woven together by the thread of family strength and the outlandish stupidity and impulsiveness of criminals. Snippets of visits at the county jailhouse from the disapproving grandmother, visits with cousins at the family farm, and her teen adventures with her brother Bill as well as her school girlfriends lend credibility to the character dynamics. Lareida Buckley’s Stories from the Sheriff’s Daughter will not disappoint readers.