The Good Daughters: A Novel

Hurricane season in New Hampshire brings about an unexpected aftermath in the year 1949. Nine months later, on July 4, 1950, two girls are born to two very different families living in this little community. The families feel a connection because of this event, although the two are very different and seemingly have nothing in common--except, of course, for the two "birthday sisters." The girls are Ruth Plank and Dana Dickerson.The Planks are a farming family. Edwin and Connie already have four daughters. Val and George Dickerson are capricious drifters--she is an artist and he is constantly searching for the pot of gold. They have one son, Ray, who is handsome and appealing to girls.Annual get-togethers happen for awhile, mostly initiated by Connie Plank, who seems strangely obsessed with the "birthday sisters," constantly commenting to Ruth about the many admirable qualities she sees in Dana.Ruth feels oddly out of place in her family, and when her mother looks at her, she sees disappointment in her face. For years, she feels as though her interests and talents do not "fit" into her life. She sketches compulsively, creating her vision of the world. When she is older, she wins a scholarship to art school. And always, in the back of her mind, is her strange fascination for Ray Dickerson, who kissed her once at the farm stand the Planks run every year, and which the Dickersons visit occasionally.Dana, a realist, is certainly out of sync with her dreaming parents. Her feet are solidly on the ground and she seeks a life that honors that need. Eventually she becomes a scientist. She also discovers other tendencies that lead to an alternative lifestyle.Throughout  The Good Daughters: A Novel , told alternately in the voices of Ruth and Dana, an invisible cloud hovers over the characters--an odd sense of something not quite right. While it was not difficult to figure out what that might be, the actual revelation was much more unexpected than I had imagined.I loved how the author depicted their lives against the backdrop of the times, from the lull of the fifties and the rabble-rousing sixties, including a trip to Woodstock, to the economic difficulties of the decades that came after. We could almost experience the lives of each family, from the struggles of the farmers to the fragmentation of the drifter family.It is a tale of lives moving along parallel paths, occasionally intersecting, with such a common theme connecting them that inevitably, the connections will stand out in stark relief and the unimaginable will become the truth that sets them free. Five stars!

Some authors are just authors but some are storytellers and Joyce Maynard is a storyteller in her latest book, The Good Daughters: A Novel. I agree with the other reviewers who say that they realized early in the story what the problem was for the two main characters, Dana and Ruth. I do not find this to be a flaw, Ms Maynard is much too seasoned a writer--I think she wanted to let her readers in on most revelations and she holds our interest by not letting the characters find out everything until near the end of the story.I loved the description of farming and farm life, both agriculture and live stock, I loved how Ms Maynard wove actual historical events into the story, and I love how she didn't make life easy for her characters but did allow them to reap the benefits of their hard work. I don't want to tell too much of the story because it is more fun for the reader-to-be to find out for her/himself what will happen, just as the characters in The Good Daughters did.If you enjoy reading about family dynamics, like good description, and enjoy a story where you as the reader "in on it" (most of the time) before the characters are, then you will love The Good Daughters: A Novel.

The dual perspective is one of the things that makes the story whole. Good daughters applies to the strawberries and the human daughters. I found the story grippingly sad for much of the book, but in a way that demands your emotional involvement with the two families.

Just not how. Disappointed at how Connie was portrayed as some type of horrible cold mother/person and Edward as some kind of great dad/ saint. What he did to Connie was horrific, not to mention the kids

This book may be Maynard's best yet. There are two families the Planks and the Dickersons. The Planks live on a farm that has been in their family for a lot of years. They raise strawberries and have a stand where they sell to the public. The Dickersons are neighbors and customers. The link to the families is that Ruth Plank and Dana ( I believe is the name) were born on the same day. the fourth of July. Connie Plank, the mother of Ruth, sees to it the families stay in touch. The Dickersons move around a lot. George the father is "always going to make it big." Dana has an older brother, Ray, who is so handsome and Ruth has an ongoing crush on him. Ruth has four older sisters. She never feels she has a close relationship with her Mother; like she is not really in the family.A lot of issues are covered. Lesbians, Dana is lesbian and has a beautiful life with Clarice . You read of ALS in that relationship. Alzheimers is one disease that is covered, brain cancer another. Ruth and Ray do have a period of time together, but Connie is quick to break that up. The plots weaves in and out, Now before you start trying to figure out who the good daughters are, "good daughters" are the best strawberries to start the next crop. This is a book you won't want to put down.

I enjoyed the story more than I expected. I liked the way the author went back and forth between the daughters and you got to know them, excited to see how their lives turned out. I tend to gravitate towards thrillers and suspense novels so this was out of the norm for me and I found myself missing that. Still, I thought it was a great story, well written, and I enjoyed the ending.

I really enjoyed this story. The good & the bad that happened throughout the tale is life really. What happened with Dana & Ruth probably occurred more than we know.Did I like everything? No, but can anyone like everything? The way the book unfolded, flowed with Dana & Ruth taking turns telling us about their lives and events that led to choices, goid & not so good.Joyce Maynard wound The Good Daughters down to a good ending. Was it a happy ending? Guess it depends on how you look at life.

Easy to relate to and heart warming. Sad at times, but very believable. A good read. I can recommend it.

I just finished this book and I loved it~!! Joyce Maynard is an exceptional writer, in my opinion. I just read the other reviews and several complained about the "surprise" wasn't really a surprise and one said that early on you could guess what the "surprise actually was. But, they obviously didn't read the entire book as the BIG surprise was almost at the end of the book. I felt that the author did very well in defining the main characters and the emotions were conveyed extremely well. It is obvious early on in the book what the theme of the story is, but in no way is the "surprise" given away too early. I was almost shocked at the ending, it was unexpected. I highly recommend this book and please read it till the end. You won't be sorry.

I love a good plot twist, one you don't see coming but this is not what I found with "The Good Daughters". In this novel it was less of a twist and more of a tight curve and even though you could see what was coming, it still threw your emotions for a loop. A very enjoyable book!

I enjoyed this story, the surprise ending was less of a surprise than a fitting ending. I finished the story and look forward to more by Joyce Maynard.

This is a beautiful book and well written, I loved the flow and didn’t want to put it down , lovely story