The Good Daughters audiobook

The Good Daughters is an interesting story about family following two women that were raised like sisters throughout their life. The story is told alternating between Ruth and Dana’s perspectives as they grow up. Both women are very different but have similar struggles. I really enjoyed how different these characters were and the different problems they struggled with. Their lives intersect and converge as they grow up. They are neighbors born on the same day but grew up with drastically different home lives. Their families always stay close. The ending has an unexpected twist that I didn’t see coming. The twist was my favorite part of the book and so crazy. This is a great story of family and discusses the true meaning of family. I enjoyed all of the complexities in the story. I recommend The Good Daughters to anyone that likes character focused books about family.Thank you William Morrow and NetGalley for The Good Daughters.Full Review Coming Soon: https://justreadingjess.wordpress.com/

Wow!!! What an amazing story by an excellent storyteller!!! There is soooo much emotion in this book. So many daughters. I listened to it and it was so very interesting. Yet about a somewhat mundane subject. I want to inhale everything this author touches.

I absolutely loved this book! I love Joyce Maynard’s writing. . . It’s simple and poetic at the same time. Not necessarily something going on in every page, but never boring. I am perplexed as to why this book isn’t rated higher, but to each his or her own. Sometimes I don’t like a book that everyone else seems to love and vice versa. Diversity make the world a more interesting place. I felt these characters were interesting and felt the plot was creative. But I’m not going to say anything more about the plot. I think it’s best to go into this one cold and just let the story unravel . . . Keep an open mind and an open heart. Joyce Maynard really captures what it feels like to fall in love , to lose love and to experience grief. I always feel I connect with the characters on some level. I’m transported to another world and yet I’m often reminded or reacquainted with a part of myself. Not that many writers can do that for me. After I finished the book , I played Joni Mitchell’s Blue album , which I haven’t listened to in years. 💙

Usually I get annoyed when there's a plot twist that I can see coming a mile away (example? SPOILER ALERT: Darth Vader is Luke's father. oh, and Leia's his sister). For some reason, even though I figured out what the plot twist was in this book, it didn't bother me.There are three daughters here: Ruth Plank, fifth daughter of Edwin and Connie; Dana Dickinson, daughter of Val and George; and a new strawberry hybrid (I'm not kidding). Ruth and Dana are "birthday sisters", born nine months after a massive hurricane hits their rural NH town. Ruth's family, the Planks, have owned their farm since the 1700s, and while Ruth doesn't really fit in, she adores her father and helps out around the farm to be with him. Dana's family is one of those unsettled families, moving ever few years; the only constants are the George will have yet another failed get-rich-quick scheme and that the Planks and the Dickinsons will see each other for two brief visits every year.Their lives intertwine more than just these visits, as Ruth has a massive crush on Ray (Dana's older brother), while Dana eventually becomes a farmer and successfully patents Edwin's strawberry. To reveal more would give away the plot twist.This isn't an action-packed book, but the raveling and unraveling of their lives is well worth the read.ARC provided by publisher

It is a long time since I read a book and had to go and find space alone, so I could allow the tears to freely pour down my face and drip onto my chest, as I experienced moments of intense love and loss - with characters that I had come to care for immensely, despite their frailties and failings. Most extraordinary, was knowing within 3 chapters exactly where the book was going, and being utterly astounded that the characters took 50 odd years to figure it all out? Yet, I loved them anyway. And I wonder if in fact, that magical thing about families is - that lies seem to hide so utterly well within them, simply because they are the place we least expect to find them.Told from the perspective of the two main characters, Ruth and Dana, who are as different as chalk and cheese and don't particularly like each other, despite Ruth's mother insisting on maintaining a family friendship as both girls were born on the same day. Just a beautiful book, about family, and how it is possible to love as best you can, but it still, at times, not be quite enough. How redemption can lie deep within the heart of all accumulated failings. And a reminder that forgiveness is the only thing that can ever set you free. A book that reminds you of loves great pleasure and her inevitable pain. It was harrowing, it was fabulous. I loved every page.

I absolutely loved this book which is a little odd as at points it was a real downer and the topics it covered were less than upbeat. But the story of these two good daughters - growing up in the "wrong" family and yet in the end finding their own way. It starts slow as the two characters are children but it builds the foundation for all that is yet to come. And so it comes. So many of these stories could have made a whole book just to themselves but I never felt any story line was rushed (except maybe at the very end). But the writing was so wonderful and I felt like I really knew both Ruth and Dana and wanted so much to see how everything would turn out in the end. But the topics touched was unbelievable in retrospect - lesbianism, prejudice, schizophrenia, incest, euthanasia, cancer, ALS disease, Alzheimer's and yet I also learned about farming and strawberry propogation and had a glimpse into Woodstock. How one book was able to handle all of this and still tell a compelling personal story of two woman was nothing less than remarkable. In the end their ties to each other and their father was so much more than the circumstances that pushed them apart early on.

I'll say flat out that I enjoyed this book more than "Labor Day", a book I liked quite a bit. It was easier for me to relate to the two main characters--maybe because they were women, maybe because they were farmers at points in their lives, maybe because they were searching for a place to belong and someone to be cherished by who would love them forthemselves. I definitely became attached to them and enjoyed watching their lives unfold (though they both face difficult times that moved me greatly) over the 50ish years the book ranges over. I figured out the "big secret" in the book pretty quickly (I felt that Maynard was a bit heavy handed with the foreshadowing, actually, but nobody's perfect). Even so, I knew WHAT it was, but I kept reading because I really wanted to know WHY it was. The answer was not as complex as I had hoped for, but the ending of the book was better than I expected, so I'm satisfied and will be recommending it heartily when it hits the shelves in September.

Warning: This novel is not suitable for reading in public, unless, of course, you don't mind having people stare at you, wondering why it is that a book has brought you to tears.I was fortunate in that I lucked out and was able to read about three-quarters of this novel on a quiet Saturday when no one else was around. I was able to cry when I needed to -- which was often -- and I'm not the kind of person who cries easily while reading books. (Movies? That's an entirely different story.)This is a fabulous novel. The plot is intriguing; the main characters are complex and likeable; and the narrative is both passionate and inspiring. (The descriptions of love and loss are incredibly moving. The idea of "good daughters" was brilliant and so fitting, given the premise of this novel.)This is the first work of fiction I have read by Joyce Maynard. I am so excited that I have the rest of her backlist to explore.

Even though I agree with the one reviewer who thinks the plot is like a bad soap opera, I have to admit that sometimes I need that kind of story. The writing is magnificent, the plot is engaging, and the characters are people I really like. And not beside the point, I've found that real life is often very much like a bad soap opera. So what's the problem?After years of dismissing Joyce Maynard as a fraud for having made me believe (through her "Domestic Affairs" column) that she had a blissful family life that we all should envy and emulate, I have long since forgiven her. She has matured as a writer and undoubtedly as a person. She is an excellent writer and story teller and she understands something true and good about the human heart.

The Good Daughters chronicles the lives of the birthday sisters (Ruth and Dana) from infancy through adulthood. The book is written through the voices of these girls in alternating chapters. At the core is a family secret which is apparent to the reader very early in the book yet the story unfolds without losing the attention and curiosity of the reader.

Des longueurs dans le premier tiers du libre, mais finalement comme dans tout bon roman, c'est là que les acteurs et les lieux prennent position. Après cette acceptation, je découvre dans ce livre beaucoup de sensibilité, et où la vie simple de la terre prends tout son sens. Faire ce que l'on sent profondément est sans doute la clé du bonheur

Another win for Maynard! Although the twist was not surprising the ending and how things ended up was. Even more importantly, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride! Great author.

From my book review blog Rundpinne. "Heart breaking, beautiful, and life affirming, The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard tells the story of Ruth Plank and Dana Dickerson, known as the birthday sisters. On July 4, 1950 at the peak of strawberry season in Bellersville Hospital, Edwin and Connie Plank welcomed their 5th daughter into the world and two hours later, the Dickersons were greeting their second child and their first daughter. Maynard writes a beautiful, moving novel, and from the beginning it is fairly obvious what will eventually be confirmed, however knowing does not detract from the story. The heart of The Good Daughters consists of the stories told through Ruth and Dana, two women who have lived dramatically different lives, yet each learned so very much from Edwin Plank, the lessons they have each accumulated over their respective fifty plus years of life, love, loss, and family. I found myself deeply engrossed in each woman’s story and noticed I particularly looked forward to the sections where Dana’s voice came through as I formed quite a fondness for Dana and her life with Clarice. The Good Daughters is rich in detailed prose and an absolute delight to read even through the sadness and hardships told by Ruth and Dana. I would recommend The Good Daughters to anyone who is interested in reading a beautiful novel. A word of caution, the reader may want to keep some tissues close at hand."

The Good Daughter, by Joyce Maynard: a powerful example of the varied and complicated ways love is (sometimes) expressed. Also, the deep emotions we hide from ourselves, and those closest to us. It may take a few chapters to entice you to linger, but I feel it's worth it.

My first book by Maynard and it won't be my last. The ending was not at all transparent and looking back, it should have been obvious. There were so many hints but I missed them all. Anyway, I enjoyed the story in spite of being blind-sided.