A Family Daughter

Description

It is 1979, and seven-year-old Abby, the youngest member of the close-knit Santerre family, is trapped indoors with chickenpox during a heat wave. The events of that summer will change her family's lives for ever. An engaging and insightful novel about the joys and complications of modern life, "A Family Daughter" is a delicious read. For everyone who has yet to meet the Santerres, an unmatched pleasure awaits.

Reviews

'With its humour, athletic sex and explosive secrets, AFAMILY DAUGHTERis the delinquent offspring of LIARS AND SAINTS, and deserves similar success' -- Daily Mail Book of the month: ' You can't help but be caught up by Meloy's enthralling storytelling which alternates between dramatic narrative swoops and tiny moments of emotional acuity. A truly original piece of work, (it) establishes Meloy as a writer with an imaginative territory as distinctive and finely worked as that of Anne Tyler' -- Marie Claire 20060401 'The new book is better than the first, but it's hard to separate them. Ms. Meloy's reflections on truth and fiction are best appreciated when the two novels collide... A FAMILY DAUGHTER roams engrossingly from California to Paris to Buenos Aires in ways that make it a big book as well as a swift, slender, graceful one ... This new book has the deep ramifications of more ambitious fiction' -- New York Times 20060401 '[Meloy] ... writes wonderfully well, with an efficiency so lithe it's like watching an athlete' -- Guardian 20060401 'A deliciously duplicitous book, a darkly perceptive examination of American mores disguised as a light family romance.' -- Sunday Telegraph (Seven) 20060401 'A great weekend read' -- Vogue 20060401 'Both compassionate and gripping,A FAMILY DAUGHTER is a wonderful piece of fiction' -- Books Quarterly (Waterstone's) 20060401

Author description

Maile Meloy lives in California. Her first novel, Liarsand Saints", drew acclaim from readers and reviewers alike. It was shortlisted for the 2005 Orange Prize for Fiction, and was selected as a Richard & Judy Summer Read. Her collection of stories, Half In Love", is also available as a John Murray paperback.