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A review by misha_ali
Favourite Daughter by Morgan Dick
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is the kind of messy family dynamics I enjoy but boy, is it hard to root for either of these sisters here. Not impossible, but rough.
Mickey, aka Michelle and her mom were abandoned by her dad and left holding the bag for his debts, along with their abandonment issues. Arlo, aka Charlotte, was the daughter of the same man after he abandoned his first family and got the apparently happy home life and dad support that Mickey never did. Now, after Arlo cares for every aspect of his declining health over his last years, her dad has died and left all his money (5.5 million dollars) to Mickey and nothing to Arlo.
Meanwhile, Mickey, who has resolutely never thought of her dad for decades, finds her quiet, solitary life as a kindergarten teacher in peril due to her own bad decisions, and then gets a call from lawyers telling her she's going to inherit a lot of money if she goes to seven sessions of therapy at a specified practice. Little does either woman know that their dad has sent Mickey to Arlo's psychiatry practice for these sessions, but neither woman knows the other's full name.
What ensues is a messy story of two women blowing up their lives over a horrible father and a redemptive story about two strangers coming together as maybe friends and sisters after a lifetime of never knowing the other. Messy, dramatic, and with some pretty unlikeable characters who are trying to be better, this is a solid read for complicated family dynamics and bad decisions.
Mickey, aka Michelle and her mom were abandoned by her dad and left holding the bag for his debts, along with their abandonment issues. Arlo, aka Charlotte, was the daughter of the same man after he abandoned his first family and got the apparently happy home life and dad support that Mickey never did. Now, after Arlo cares for every aspect of his declining health over his last years, her dad has died and left all his money (5.5 million dollars) to Mickey and nothing to Arlo.
Meanwhile, Mickey, who has resolutely never thought of her dad for decades, finds her quiet, solitary life as a kindergarten teacher in peril due to her own bad decisions, and then gets a call from lawyers telling her she's going to inherit a lot of money if she goes to seven sessions of therapy at a specified practice. Little does either woman know that their dad has sent Mickey to Arlo's psychiatry practice for these sessions, but neither woman knows the other's full name.
What ensues is a messy story of two women blowing up their lives over a horrible father and a redemptive story about two strangers coming together as maybe friends and sisters after a lifetime of never knowing the other. Messy, dramatic, and with some pretty unlikeable characters who are trying to be better, this is a solid read for complicated family dynamics and bad decisions.