Helpful Score: 4
This was a really terrific read - written in a strong, believable voice that sucks you in from the first page. The characters are real and three-dimensional, and the story is compelling. I literally could not put this down until I had finished it. I am hoping for more from this author in the future!
Helpful Score: 3
Lulu and Merry's father killed their mother when they were little. It goes back and forth between the two girls over the next 30-ish years and tells of their struggles with life and dealing with those issues. This book had a good storyline and flowed easily between characters and I really enjoyed reading it.
Helpful Score: 2
This is easily the best novel I have read this year. I have a suspicion that it is really a true story. The interactions of all the characters are so realistic. I would go back and forth in my mind as to who was handling the trauma the best of the 2 sisters.
Helpful Score: 2
I was deeply engrossed in the story for the first third of the book. The telling of the murder and the children's life at the orphanage was most interesting and very well written. I however thought the pace of the book died a little after Lulu went off to college. I still enjoyed the remainder of the book, but was a little disappointed after being so excited for the first parts. The ending left me wanting for more explanation and more information on what happened next. Neither of the girls ever dealt with their issues. I read the last page and then turned to the next thinking "there has to be more."
The book is worth the read. I however wished that it had ended a little differently.
The book is worth the read. I however wished that it had ended a little differently.
Helpful Score: 2
3.0 out of 5 stars Escaping a shocking act of domestic violence..., October 21, 2010
I was quite disappointed in this uneven, overly slow novel that never seemed to go anywhere. The premise was interesting -- two sisters struggle through a series of sad and depressing events after their father murders their mother, attempts to stab and kill one of the sisters, and continues to torture them emotionally and disrupt their lives from his jail cell. I believe some have remarked upon a similarity to Janet Fitch's heartbreakingly beautiful novel, White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club), but I did not see much similarity beyond the basic facts that in both books a parent committed a murder and went to prison and also both tried to manipulate their children while incarcerated.
Told in first person alternating voices, this novel tells the tale of Lulu and Merry - the murderer's two daughters who witnessed his crime against them and who try to escape being known and defined by his act. Taunted at school, in the home of relatives and later in an orphanage, the girls can't seem to get away from the horror of their childhood abuse and the stain that violence left upon them. The sisters are as different as night from day as they deal with the trauma and suffer various types of post-traumatic reactions. The two behave quite stereotypically with the older sister taking on the reliable, responsible maternal role and the younger Merry becoming a bit off balance, promiscuous, and developing an addictive type personality. They remain close although constantly trying to hide their past, shielding Lulu's children from the knowledge that they have a grandfather in prison, and fighting about Merry's continued relationship with their father whom she visits at the penitentiary.
The narrative continues through the course of their young adult lives as each sister struggles to find her place in the world and to leave her past behind. Their bond is threatened when their father announces that he's about to be released from prison. Will the sisters be able to forgive him and accept him back into their lives? What, after all, is the nature of family and how strong is a pull toward a biological parent no matter how "bad" they have behaved? Can anyone remain unaffected after a shocking act of domestic violence and become whole again? These are all questions that the reader might ponder while reading. I personally didn't like the way the book ended, but perhaps others might have found more profound meaning in the conclusion. No new revelations here!
I was quite disappointed in this uneven, overly slow novel that never seemed to go anywhere. The premise was interesting -- two sisters struggle through a series of sad and depressing events after their father murders their mother, attempts to stab and kill one of the sisters, and continues to torture them emotionally and disrupt their lives from his jail cell. I believe some have remarked upon a similarity to Janet Fitch's heartbreakingly beautiful novel, White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club), but I did not see much similarity beyond the basic facts that in both books a parent committed a murder and went to prison and also both tried to manipulate their children while incarcerated.
Told in first person alternating voices, this novel tells the tale of Lulu and Merry - the murderer's two daughters who witnessed his crime against them and who try to escape being known and defined by his act. Taunted at school, in the home of relatives and later in an orphanage, the girls can't seem to get away from the horror of their childhood abuse and the stain that violence left upon them. The sisters are as different as night from day as they deal with the trauma and suffer various types of post-traumatic reactions. The two behave quite stereotypically with the older sister taking on the reliable, responsible maternal role and the younger Merry becoming a bit off balance, promiscuous, and developing an addictive type personality. They remain close although constantly trying to hide their past, shielding Lulu's children from the knowledge that they have a grandfather in prison, and fighting about Merry's continued relationship with their father whom she visits at the penitentiary.
The narrative continues through the course of their young adult lives as each sister struggles to find her place in the world and to leave her past behind. Their bond is threatened when their father announces that he's about to be released from prison. Will the sisters be able to forgive him and accept him back into their lives? What, after all, is the nature of family and how strong is a pull toward a biological parent no matter how "bad" they have behaved? Can anyone remain unaffected after a shocking act of domestic violence and become whole again? These are all questions that the reader might ponder while reading. I personally didn't like the way the book ended, but perhaps others might have found more profound meaning in the conclusion. No new revelations here!
Helpful Score: 2
This one had been sitting on the bookshelf for years before I finally decided ti pick it up. The premise sounded interesting and it got off to a good start, but went quickly down hill. Boring, very repetitive, and with a cast of unlikeable characters, I'd likely not read any more from this author in the future.
Helpful Score: 2
A great effort for a first time author. This book was a recommened to me--this book wound up to be very good.
Helpful Score: 1
I enjoyed the book; thought it read a little bit like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It was different than I expected (and better).
Helpful Score: 1
Wow, I really hated this book. It goes back and forth, back and forth, the entire book, between the 2 sisters. I had a hard time keeping track of which sister was "telling" the story, because you have to really make sure to check at the start of each chapter since it changes so frequently. I didn't like the ending, other than the fact that it was finally over. ;)
Helpful Score: 1
Lulu and Merry's father kills their mother and the girls now have to cling to each other for support growing up. This book really reaches out to you....makes you feel their pain and sorrow and you are touched by how victims of this type of violence are able to get past it and try to have some type of a normal life as the survivors of murder in the family! Reason for only 3 stars is I was disappointed in the way author ended the story.
Helpful Score: 1
The premise for The Murderer's Daughters strikes me as unusual and fascinating - the story of two girls who must grow into adulthood having witnessed the brutal murder of their mother at the hands of their father. Furthermore, the younger daughter was also savagely attacked by her father. The story is not a murder mystery or a horror story, but an absorbing, engaging and complex tale of the effects of domestic violence on these sisters over the course of 30 years.
Helpful Score: 1
I really enjoyed this book. I love books that delve into family bonds and questions who you really are and what you really believe. It makes you wonder what you would truly do in this situation.
Helpful Score: 1
Lulu and Merry had never had an ideal childhood, but on the day before Lulu's tenth birthday their father does something that shatters their lives altogether. He has always hungered for the love of the girls self-obsessed mother, but after she throws him out, their troubles turn deadly. Lulu's mother has warned her never to open the door to him but when Lulu's father arrives at the house he bullies his way past her and into the house.
What follows is horrific. Lulu listens to her parents fight and runs to get help. When she returns, Lulu finds that her father has killed her mother, stabbed her sister and tried to kill himself. For thirty years, the sisters try to make sense of what happened: one pretends he's dead, while the other feels compelled to help him. Their imprisoned father is a specter in both their lives, influencing all their life choices. They both fear the day when their father's attempts to win parole might meet with success.
I enjoyed this book very much. It was very well-written and the characters were believable. I give it an A+!
What follows is horrific. Lulu listens to her parents fight and runs to get help. When she returns, Lulu finds that her father has killed her mother, stabbed her sister and tried to kill himself. For thirty years, the sisters try to make sense of what happened: one pretends he's dead, while the other feels compelled to help him. Their imprisoned father is a specter in both their lives, influencing all their life choices. They both fear the day when their father's attempts to win parole might meet with success.
I enjoyed this book very much. It was very well-written and the characters were believable. I give it an A+!
Helpful Score: 1
Great story. Two sisters treat their father differently after he kills their mother. One visits him in prison and the other pronounces him dead. Their life is a struggle for being his daughters. Two points of view lead the reader through their trauma.
Helpful Score: 1
It took me a while to read this book. I thought it would be more then it was. The ending seemed like the author either got tired of writing or bored with the book. Wish the author would have ended it a little better.
Helpful Score: 1
Story of two sisters and how the murder of their mother, by their father, influences their minds, personalities and how they move through their lives. The book shows how the power of the family moves us together or tears us apart.
Helpful Score: 1
This is a well written story that follows the lives of two girls (women) and the effects that childhood violence had on their lives. The characters are described in their own words and the narration switches between the two, this to me would have been a five star book all the way except to me the ending fell flat. Perhaps that is what was supposed to happen so readers could draw their own conclusions, but I had some ideas that I thought would be part of the book and they were not. All in all a good read, but left you wanting more.
Good story, but the topic can be difficult.
The Murderer's Daughters is sooo good! The story revolves around two sisters whose father killed their mother and follows them throughout their lives and having to live with secrets. The characters are engaging, so real, and the storyline is believable. Some humorous parts, too; I like books like that. Have not finished it yet; can't wait to see how things work out. Five stars all the way! I hope this author writes more.
LisaD
LisaD
Sad and completely believable story. Quick read. Leads to lots of questioning about "what would you do?"
I read THE MURDERER'S DAUGHTERS with a buddy in my online book club, The Reading Cove.
I found the premise compelling and fell right into the lives of young Lulu and Merry. OMG: what an unimaginable situation for young children to face! I thought the author did a great job of showing the lasting and permanent affects the terrible thing that happened had on the rest of these girls' lives. The layered dynamics really shined through; how the family members around them reacted and behaved, the development of the girls' relationship with each other, etc.
It all felt very true to life, in that these girls never received counseling for the trauma they suffered, which is the case for so many victims in real life, it just never happens, and they stumble through life trying to handle the burden of the past on their own, with varying degrees of success.
While I felt the pacing wasn't the best (there were too many instances where the narrative felt quite sluggish and meandering), the circumstances and the characters really came to life for me, and I felt real sympathy and understanding for their humanity.
I give this one a strong B- or 3.75/5 stars.
I found the premise compelling and fell right into the lives of young Lulu and Merry. OMG: what an unimaginable situation for young children to face! I thought the author did a great job of showing the lasting and permanent affects the terrible thing that happened had on the rest of these girls' lives. The layered dynamics really shined through; how the family members around them reacted and behaved, the development of the girls' relationship with each other, etc.
It all felt very true to life, in that these girls never received counseling for the trauma they suffered, which is the case for so many victims in real life, it just never happens, and they stumble through life trying to handle the burden of the past on their own, with varying degrees of success.
While I felt the pacing wasn't the best (there were too many instances where the narrative felt quite sluggish and meandering), the circumstances and the characters really came to life for me, and I felt real sympathy and understanding for their humanity.
I give this one a strong B- or 3.75/5 stars.
I enjoyed the book, tho I feel the end kinda left me hanging. It does leave an opening for a sequel.
