The Good Daughters

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Dana Dickerson and Ruth Plank are “birthday sisters” – born on the same day at the same hospital in a small New Hampshire town. Their families couldn’t be any more different. Dana’s parents are drifters, her mother an artist and her father always disappearing for weeks at a time, chasing whatever get-rich-quick scheme he’s come up with. Ruth is the youngest of 5 girls, born to a farming family who has owned their land for generations. While the Dickersons and the Planks have only the birthday sisters in common, Ruth’s mom, Connie, can’t seem to let go of Dana’s family. The Planks take annual road trips to visit the Dickersons wherever they are living, staying just long enough to have a cup of coffee. The other thing Dana and Ruth have in common is Dana’s brother, Ray, who Ruth is infatuated with from an early age. As each girl grows to become a woman, experiencing first love and then losses, we learn why it is the families are connected and what it is that Connie couldn’t let go.

The Good Daughters is told in alternating chapters in Ruth’s and Dana’s voice. This got confusing at times as I wasn’t sure whose story was being told, but otherwise it was an effective device. This is a very character-driven novel, and I did feel some of the characters could have been better developed, but the plot moved forward and toward the end I found myself skipping ahead. I enjoyed following the parallel lives of Ruth and Dana as they grow from girls to women, following their hearts and their dreams. There is a bit of obvious foreshadowing but there’s enough to keep the reader wondering why and how things happened they they did.

I often wonder what motivates an author to choose the title of their book – did they write the book and then find the title? Did the title come first and then the story? “The Good Daughters” has multiple meanings in the story – the obvious one being the main characters, but it also refers to the daughters of plants, shooting off and becoming their own. Ruth and Dana both become their own women in spite of their roots. I also love the cover art, you don’t know if the girl with the strawberries is looking out or in, and either one would apply to the novel.

If you enjoy character-driven novels and farming, The Good Daughters is a great weekend read.

Nancy loves to eat farm-fresh fruits and vegetables but sadly has a brown thumb. She writes about her 2 boys and life in Colorado at Life With My Boys.