Mirinda Kossoff took one flight in her father's Cessna Skyhawk as he piloted and navigated by landmarks that revealed themselves through openings in the trees below. A short three years later, he was dead at age fifty-six. Memory of that ride fueled Kossoff's desire to understand who her father was and the forces that shaped him. And by extension, how he shaped her life. Her need to know and to understand became a life-long pursuit. The Rope of Life: A Memoir is a daughter's story told with love and compassion. Readers will come away wiser about family bonds and the ways in which they can hurt or heal.