Father & Son is the memoir of the childhood and young adulthood of the author Edmund Gosse. Both his parents were members of the religious sect the "Plymouth Brethren," and it was in an atmosphere of strict adherence to the teaching of this religion that Edmund grew up. From an early age he was taught that imagination was a sin, was told stories of missionaries rather than fairytales, and had no childhood companions. Yet this was not an unhappy childhood and his affection for his parents is clear, but they were unable to suppress the imagination and curiosity that is natural to every child. Over time, as the child suffers the death of his mother and grows into a young man, he starts to question the faith of his father so rigidly enforced upon him and to develop his own interests in the outside world, which leads to him pursuing his own path in life. This is an affecting and often emotional portrayal of the everyday life and crises of a remarkable Victorian family.