Martha's Daughter:

by David Haynes, Erica Vital-Lazare (editor)

100 pages, Hardcover

Published September 9, 2025

About the author

David Haynes has been recognized by Granta magazine as one of America's best young novelists. The author of six critically acclaimed novels and five children's books, he is director of creative writing at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

The former sixth grade teacher's short stories have been heard on "Selected Shorts" on NPR, and his novels have been recognized by the American Library Association.

--from the author profile at SMU

See also other authors with similar names.

Reviews

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good characters. I often wished these were not short stories so I could spend more time with them. And funny

[Sarah Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a huge fan of David Haynes’s rich, funny, character-driven fiction. He’s the kind of writer who can make the people in his books feel genuinely alive. They are impossible, lovable, unexpected, and human. The title novella here has Martha’s middle-aged daughter, Cynthia, driving to the mortuary with a co-worker. Until this moment Cynthia hasn’t much liked or respected her, and didn’t want her along, although their relationship changes over the course of the drive. Meanwhile Cynthia’s wrestling with the complicated grief of loving and resenting a disapproving but fascinating mother who wanted the best for her and tried to chivvy her into being that person. All the stories have a web of outrageous and delightful and relatable characters. The way they’re depicted is sometimes fierce, sometimes hilarious, often both. Kirkus called this collection “spirited, witty, and illuminating” and “a treasure trove of warmth, smarts, and wisdom.” That seems right to me. Sometimes a question raised in one story feels as if it’s answered by another. These stories made me think about who we despise and who we take as heroes, how that can change over time, the ways people grow (and shrink). Also about both birth and chosen families and how they operate. I love how the characters try to reach across the kinds of rifts that divide us. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they come to know themselves better, and sometimes they move towards doing better. Reading these stories, I feel hopeful about life and the possibilities of communities and connection.

[Joanne Sills · Rating 5 out of 5]

The voracious reader in me was well fed by MARTHA'S DAUGHTER, the writer in me admired the language and settings. Really vibed with the humor. I loved the many first-person POVs in the tales, but especially Cynthia’s. It was clear the pressures she was under resisting her mother’s toxic worldview while understanding how it shaped her. The day Janine inserts herself into Cynthia’s personal mission is just a reader’s delight. We witness transformation of both characters. Lovely character arching. Ghetto Man to old Sammy-cat, by turns I laughed, was aghast, empathetic and warmed by the stories.

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impeccable characters with vibrant and illustrative story telling. I felt dropped into each scene like a fly on the wall, part of the drama. A terrific collection!

[Nancy]

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