Kathy McCoy had three major fears: first, that she would grow up to become a suburban housewife with no power of her own; second, nuclear annihilation; third, that her father would kill her. One wasn’t out of the question; her alcoholic, mentally ill father threatened his children’s lives on a daily basis. Her dad called his explosive mood swings ‘crocodiles,’ he feared they would devour him as they had his mother. He wasn’t the only one.

A memoir of horror and humor, The Crocodiles Will Arrive Later tells the story of growing up in mid-century suburban Los Angeles. It is a story of hope and learning how to let go of a painful past to create a very different future.