Join BookBrowse today and get access to free books, our twice monthly digital magazine, and more.

Reviews of Daddy's Girls by Suzanne Gold

Daddy's Girls

by Suzanne Gold

Daddy's Girls by Suzanne Gold X
Daddy's Girls by Suzanne Gold
  • Critics' Opinion:

    Readers' Opinion:

  • First Published:
    Nov 2000, 575 pages

    Paperback:
    Nov 2000, 575 pages

    Genres

  • Rate this book


Buy This Book

About this Book

Book Summary

A rich yet simple tale of love, madness and spirit, told by the three women in a family on the verge of mental illness.

Daddy's Girls is a rich yet simple tale of love, madness and spirit, told by the three women in a family on the verge of mental illness. Overlapping vignettes reveal the dark forces beneath their middle-class veneer as they struggle to love one another. From her dual perspective as a psychologist and sister of a schizophrenic, Suzanne Gold portrays insanity as a metaphor for spiritual purpose.

Allison
thirty-one years old

THE LAST TIME I saw Cherie she was still beautiful.

I used to envy her perfect nose, her perfect teeth. Even her artificially-straight artificially-blonde hair flattered her. I dread seeing her now.

Mom says Cherie's mental state deteriorated fast after her boyfriend/cocaine connection dumped her, and soon she was seeing black helicopters following her, international conspiracies spying on her. When she ran out of money and tried to get the boyfriend to take her back -- yelling on his doorstep, threatening, and frightening the neighbors -- he called the police. They threw her into Egg Harbor State Hospital, where she's been for over a year, court-committed, with reviews every six months.

Lost in memory, I stare out the airplane window, barely registering the dull roar of the engines or the attendants rolling carts down the aisle. Thirty thousand feet down, barren waves of earth undulate. Probably mountains, but from up here ...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

BookReviewCafe.com
A fascinating story, one I won't soon forget. I was captivated. In my opinion, a must read!

ForeWord Magazine
ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Awards 2001 Gold Medal for Fiction. "Daddy's Girls," a bittersweet novel of love, redemption and spirit in a dysfunctional family won a Gold Medal for Fiction.

Nelson (BC) Daily News - Anne DeGrace
Writing from personal experience can be cathartic. Writing from the heart with a depth of understanding, placed in dramatic context with the prowess of a good storyteller, can also be good fiction. Daddy's Girls is a tragic story of loss, frustration, blame and anguish, it's also a heartening tale of love an its resurrection against all odds. Gold suggests possibilities beyond an accepted norm, and lends a new dimension to an old story.

Ruth Williams, author of Younger Than That Now
Daddy's Girls is a luxuriant narrative, telling the stories of three complex women -- two sisters and their mother. Their lives are impacted by the mental illness of one, a fascinating and obviously well-informed look at heartbreaking realities. This is a book written from the heart.

Midwest Book Review - Terry Mathews
I received the galleys of this book from the author -- I'm right in the middle of a remodeling project at my house so I really didn't have much time, but I thought I'd just read a few pages before turning out the light. WRONG! I wound up reading until 4:00AM and was back up at 8:00 to finish this marvelous book.
The story centers around Allison and Cherie, the unfortunate offspring of a marriage between Ruth and Warren, two very unhappy people. Allison is mild, meek and feels inadequate. Her younger sister Cherie is wild from the moment of birth and never looks back.
The dysfunctionality (if there is such a word) of this family is difficult to watch, but the author's style pulls you into the story and you cannot put the book down until there is some kind of resolution.
This is not light reading, but it is a book that will speak to you on many levels, a book that can alter your perception of the world -- and to me, that's what good fiction should do -- it should broaden your horizons and urge you to think outside the box. I am serious when I say it is the best one I've read since Cunningham's The Hours. This book is worth your time!

Reader Reviews

bonnierose333

Daddy's girl is an excellent read. Many people world-wide are oppressed because of past experiences.
jessica

this book was one of the most interesting book, that i have ever read. i, a matter of fact liked this book so much, i decided to do a three page book report. I turned i in and got a (At).

Write your own review!

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked Daddy's Girls, try these:

  • A Fractured Mind jacket

    A Fractured Mind

    by Robert B. Oxnam

    Published 2006

    About this book

    The harrowing, insightful, and courageous account of a prominent man's struggle with multiple personalities.

  • The Memory of Running jacket

    The Memory of Running

    by Ron McLarty

    Published 2006

    About this book

    More by this author

    A story of families and friendships, of mental illness and addiction, of growing up and growing older, of first loves and second chances and of one man's journey across America toward personal redemption.

We have 4 read-alikes for Daddy's Girls, but non-members are limited to two results. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Support BookBrowse

Join our inner reading circle, go ad-free and get way more!

Find out more


Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Change
    Change
    by Edouard Louis
    Édouard Louis's 2014 debut novel, The End of Eddy—an instant literary success, published ...
  • Book Jacket: Big Time
    Big Time
    by Ben H. Winters
    Big Time, the latest offering from prolific novelist and screenwriter Ben H. Winters, is as ...
  • Book Jacket: Becoming Madam Secretary
    Becoming Madam Secretary
    by Stephanie Dray
    Our First Impressions reviewers enjoyed reading about Frances Perkins, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's ...
  • Book Jacket: The Last Bloodcarver
    The Last Bloodcarver
    by Vanessa Le
    The city-state of Theumas is a gleaming metropolis of advanced technology and innovation where the ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
Half a Cup of Sand and Sky
by Nadine Bjursten
A poignant portrayal of a woman's quest for love and belonging amid political turmoil.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    The Stone Home
    by Crystal Hana Kim

    A moving family drama and coming-of-age story revealing a dark corner of South Korean history.

  • Book Jacket

    The Flower Sisters
    by Michelle Collins Anderson

    From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.

Win This Book
Win The Funeral Cryer

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.

Enter

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

M as A H

and be entered to win..

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.