Review: Kidadkill by David Chick

Launching a scathing rebuke of the family law system in England, David Chick details his own harrowing battle against this secretive bureaucratic nightmare in Kidadkill: Spiderman of Tower Bridge.

More than 20 years ago, the author’s life was turned upside down when his relationship with his partner Jo began to break down. As an unmarried father to his beloved daughter Lauryn, he had very few rights to protect, house, and safeguard her. Instead, backed up by bogus claims of violence and abuse, Jo was able to control the narrative and prevent David from seeing his daughter for extended periods of time.

Chick goes into explicit detail regarding the lies, deception, and manipulation that were so clumsily yet successfully used to separate him from his daughter, and dignity as a father. However, instead of rolling over and accepting the uncaring judgment of a biased system, David has decided to bring as much light to his case as he can. Knowing that he had righteous truth on his side, à la his biblical namesake, the author takes on the Goliath of the family law system.

He began by climbing a crane in London back in 2002, then another a few weeks later, and his high-flying custody protest began to attract the attention of the press. Over the next few months and years, his crane-climbing protests took him to the top of the London Eye, and to headlines in newspapers around the country. The combination of his dogged pursuit of justice in the courts and his resilient public protests led to the author finally winning the case, and being granted the rights so many fathers deserve.

Even with the victory, his story continues years past that, documenting the abuse and harassment he received from authorities and governmental agencies determined to punish him for exposing their failures, or prevent him from doing any more damage. Though the nuance of this paperwork-laden battle can be dense, this memoir shows just how far those in power will go to avoid criticism and retain control of the dominant narrative. Conspiratorial, shocking, amusing, and inspiring, this is an uncut account of an ordinary man with truly extraordinary will.

Some of the more extended conversations and arguments between Jo and David don’t entirely reflect well on the protagonist of this story, though it is certainly a realistic portrayal of a decaying marriage. It doesn’t take long before their relationship turns vicious with profane-laced exchanges, and while she is clearly the villain in this story, there are also moments that take some of the shine off the book’s tower-scaling hero. Some of the sections that cover procedural court details and filings can drag the pace down – these issues are no doubt important, but there is a fair amount of redundant information.

On a technical level, the writing could be polished quite a bit – the informal style of storytelling can undercut the author’s authority and seriousness, particularly when he is narrating “he said she said” conflicts. There are also some run-on sentences, grammatical errors, and unclear moments of syntax, as well as repetitive language and ideas.

Ultimately, while there are some problems in the execution of Chick’s story that could undermine his message, the book overall is a damning indictment of a broken system.