Selfish by Kerry Docherty

 

Publisher: Harmony

On Sale Date: April 21 2026

Pages: 336

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Kerry Docherty is one of the co-founders, together with her husband Alex and his twin brother Mike of the Faherty fashion brand Alex was her college sweetheart and together with Mike they lived in New York City. The brand was always number one in Alex's and Mike and Kerry. Everything was done with the brand in mind, and the work was going on almost 24/7. Slowly on, she realized she was always putting herself at last in her life, and this become more a burden, also when she became a mother and almost didn't have time for herself. This memoir is about her journey to find the parts of herself that where buried under the high expectations of others, especially from Alex, who really acted horribly to her and expected her to serve him more and more. She learned to say no more often to the things in her life that where not serving her longer, and more yes to the things and aspirations she cared about. She also had an on and off side affair with a guy named Beau and the artistic and conciousness related activities she started to get active in.

Selfish is a very personal memoir with sometimes a bit too personal details. She reflects on what it really means for her personally to put yourself first in the different parts of your life, be it in marriage, in being a mother or in your career. 

A huge part in this book is about the struggles between her and her husband Alex, as she feels more like one of his staff members than his wife. Alex is someone who puts the business first and this clashes with Kerry's aspirations in life. I found Alex's behaviour really questionable at many points and I wondered why his behaviour didn't rais more red relationship flags for Kerry. Her relationship with this excentric Beau guy...I truly found it odd sometimes. I truly hoped with all the struggles Kerry went through, there was some kind of progress coming in this memoir, as she wanted to choose more for herself, that she stayed in two relationships that where not serving her, and there was no progress as it seemed. she kept talking about the changes she would liked in her life, and repeated this pattern during the book, without real changes. I truly hoped there was some kind of conclusion or that she truly chose for herself instead of the toxic relationships she found herself in. The ending also felt rushed and I trult wondered what the point of telling all of her struggles in this book as nothing changed in the end.

I think this is a type of book you will like or not, it has to be you cup of tea, I liked parts of it, but also a lot that I truly wondered why the author was not standing up for herself more, so my feelings about this memoir are mixed.