Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Apr 2011
336 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
As Anthony and Rachel Brinkley welcome their third daughter-in-law to the family, they don't quite realize the profound shift that is about to take place. For different reasons, the Brinkleys' two previous daughters-in-law hadn't been able to resist Rachel's maternal control and Anthony's gentle charm and had settled into their husbands' family without rocking the boat. But Charlotte - very young, very beautiful, and spoiled - has no intention of falling into step with the Brinkleys and wants to establish her own household.
Soon Rachel's sons begin to think of their own houses as home and of their mother's house as simply the place where their parents live - a necessary and inevitable shift of loyalties that threatens Rachel's sense of herself, breaks Anthony's heart, and causes unexpected consequences in all the marriages. Then a crisis brings these changes to the surface, and everyone has to learn what family love means all over again.
"Though genuinely caring, the characters slight each other as they tumble toward individual crises. There's nothing groundbreaking, but it's a decent fix for family drama addicts." - Publishers Weekly
"While some of the characters are not fully fleshed out (this reviewer would have liked more backstory), Trollope fans and readers who enjoy domestic fiction will not be disappointed." - Library Journal
"Daughters-in-Law is most successful in its set-pieces... Trollope uses her undoubtedly brilliant observational powers to illuminate brightly the absurdities of modern English life." - The Independent (UK)
"[S]omething as grim as Greek tragedy is played out around the cosy family dinner table." - The Telegraph (UK)
This information about Daughters-in-Law was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Joanna Trollope was born in her grandfather's rectory in the Cotswolds in December 1943, and although her actual childhood was spent in the Midlands and in Surrey, she always felt that her real "home" was her birthplace. Joanna says — “It gave me - still gives me - not just a sense of rootedness, but a capacity to value landscape and weather and the rich life of smallish communities. It wouldn't matter where I lived now, I'd always carry that centred feeling of having come from somewhere very well defined with me.” Joanna is the eldest of three, the mother of two daughters and the stepmother of two stepsons — and — now a grandmother. She once saw a car sticker in the States. It read: “If I’d known how wonderful grandchildren were going to be, I’d ...
... Full Biography
Link to Joanna Trollope's Website
Name Pronunciation
Joanna Trollope: trol-lop (rhymes with wollop)
The Stone Home
by Crystal Hana Kim
A moving family drama and coming-of-age story revealing a dark corner of South Korean history.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
