What do you think?
Rate this book
The Puppeteer’s Daughters
Famed puppeteer and master manipulator Walter Gray surprises his three daughters by announcing there is a fourth at his 80th birthday party. An incomplete paternity test—and a will that places a condition on each daughter’s inheritance—suggest that the missing daughter isn’t a figment of his dementia.
Jane, the eldest, is tired of her father’s eccentricities. She remembers the scarcity of her childhood and doesn’t want another sister to share the birthright.
Rosie, born out of wedlock, sees the missing sister as her key to acceptance as a full member of the puppeteer’s family.
Cora, the youngest, born after Walter achieved fame and fortune, is most concerned with extricating herself from running Walter’s company so that she can pursue her own life.
The sisters each knew a different version of their enigmatic father, but all grew up in the presence of fairy tales acted out with marionettes and shadow puppets. If they are to find the fourth daughter and claim the legacy their father has left them, the three must confront their fractured relationships with their father and each other. Infused with fairy tales that sometimes spill magic into the sisters’ real lives, The Puppeteer’s Daughters is a stunningly-woven family saga about the cost and rewards of claiming a creative life.
Jane, the eldest, is tired of her father’s eccentricities. She remembers the scarcity of her childhood and doesn’t want another sister to share the birthright.
Rosie, born out of wedlock, sees the missing sister as her key to acceptance as a full member of the puppeteer’s family.
Cora, the youngest, born after Walter achieved fame and fortune, is most concerned with extricating herself from running Walter’s company so that she can pursue her own life.
The sisters each knew a different version of their enigmatic father, but all grew up in the presence of fairy tales acted out with marionettes and shadow puppets. If they are to find the fourth daughter and claim the legacy their father has left them, the three must confront their fractured relationships with their father and each other. Infused with fairy tales that sometimes spill magic into the sisters’ real lives, The Puppeteer’s Daughters is a stunningly-woven family saga about the cost and rewards of claiming a creative life.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published July 26, 2022
3 people are currently reading
3753 people want to read
About the author
Heather Newton
11 books35 followersHeather Newton’s novel Under The Mercy Trees (HarperCollins 2011) won the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, was chosen by the Women’s National Book Association as a Great Group Reads Selection and named an “Okra Pick” by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. Her short story collection McMullen Circle (Regal House 2022) was the finalist for the W.S. Porter prize. Her novel The Puppeteer’s Daughters (Turner Publishing 2022) has been optioned for television. A practicing attorney, she teaches creative writing for UNC-Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program and is co-founder of the Flatiron Writers Room in Asheville.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
August 8, 2022
In a Nutshell: Slightly different from what I had expected. But interesting nonetheless. Medium-paced, family drama. Character-oriented.
Story Synopsis:
Where the book worked for me:
💜 The biggest USP of the book is its use of puppets and marionettes in the storyline. You get an inside view of how puppetry and puppeteers work.
💜 I loved how the author used plot points from fairy tales to introduce her chapters. All of these were apt for the content to come – well done!
💜 This is a book about relationships in various forms – parent-child, husband-wife, exes, new romances, office colleagues, and friends. These are written in a fairly realistic way. None of the relationships are perfect, and they are depicted as such.
💜 For a literary fiction, its characters have to be sketched in detail without going overboard with the “telling”. This book handles this quite well. Walter Gray is known as a ‘master manipulator’ for his handling of his marionettes, but that term also applies to how he handles his family. Each of the daughters has a distinct personality and it shows in their behaviour not just with each other but also with their father and the rest of the family members.
💜 The timelines is not your typical straightforward, linear narrative but has lots of shifts back and forth. Add in the complication of having multiple points of view (all from the third person perspective) and you get a complex plot structure. Worked for me because of how intricately it was structured without losing the threads of thought any time. Might not work for some readers.
Where the book could have worked better for me:
⚠ Fat-shaming elements: This is a tricky one. One of the conditions Walter Gray keeps in his will is that Rosie must lose a 100 pounds by his death if she wants to inherit her share of the fortune. While it serves to depict what kind of a jerk Walter was, the result is that there are several scenes that border on fat-shaming. I don’t want to go into spoilers, but some of the statements could be triggering. Then again, it isn’t the author’s voice but the characters’ personalities that demanded some of those scenes. So this point could go either way depending on how you choose to see it.
⚠ Some of the plot turnarounds towards the end were a bit too convenient.
⚠ There was nothing I hated outright. But somehow, the writing didn’t impact me as much as I thought it would. I felt like a bystander watching the proceedings without any emotional investment in the plot or characters.
The audiobook experience:
The audiobook, clocking at just 6.5 hrs, is narrated by Lauren Ezzo. She handles the reading nicely, especially considering the number of characters and back stories she has to cover. She gives a distinct voice to each of the characters. While her male voices are okay, she shines in her portrayal of the three daughters. At the same time, the plot is very complex because of its inherent structure. I wouldn’t recommend this audiobook to audio version newbies. They would be better off reading it.
All in all, pretty good. Kept me invested. Loved the fairy tale and puppet elements and the complex characters. Recommended if you are looking for an intriguing family drama written in lit-fic style.
3.75 stars.
My thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ALC of “The Puppeteer's Daughters”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter
Story Synopsis:
Famous puppeteer Walter Gray, suffering from dementia, makes a shock announcement at his 80th birthday party: he has a fourth daughter. His three daughters aren’t sure if this declaration is a figment of his demented mind or there is a genuine but unknown fourth claimant to the family fortune.
His eldest, Jane, is the rigid rule-follower who is fed up of having no benefits but only responsibilities courtesy the Gray surname.
His second daughter, Rosie – the offspring of an illicit relationship – hopes to be finally seen as a legitimate part of the family.
His youngest, Cora – the only daughter to have enjoyed Walter’s fortune and currently handling his business – is desperate to pursue her own dreams away from the company.
The story focusses on each of these daughters, their relationship with each other and with their parents, and their lives before and after the shock announcement.
Where the book worked for me:
💜 The biggest USP of the book is its use of puppets and marionettes in the storyline. You get an inside view of how puppetry and puppeteers work.
💜 I loved how the author used plot points from fairy tales to introduce her chapters. All of these were apt for the content to come – well done!
💜 This is a book about relationships in various forms – parent-child, husband-wife, exes, new romances, office colleagues, and friends. These are written in a fairly realistic way. None of the relationships are perfect, and they are depicted as such.
💜 For a literary fiction, its characters have to be sketched in detail without going overboard with the “telling”. This book handles this quite well. Walter Gray is known as a ‘master manipulator’ for his handling of his marionettes, but that term also applies to how he handles his family. Each of the daughters has a distinct personality and it shows in their behaviour not just with each other but also with their father and the rest of the family members.
💜 The timelines is not your typical straightforward, linear narrative but has lots of shifts back and forth. Add in the complication of having multiple points of view (all from the third person perspective) and you get a complex plot structure. Worked for me because of how intricately it was structured without losing the threads of thought any time. Might not work for some readers.
Where the book could have worked better for me:
⚠ Fat-shaming elements: This is a tricky one. One of the conditions Walter Gray keeps in his will is that Rosie must lose a 100 pounds by his death if she wants to inherit her share of the fortune. While it serves to depict what kind of a jerk Walter was, the result is that there are several scenes that border on fat-shaming. I don’t want to go into spoilers, but some of the statements could be triggering. Then again, it isn’t the author’s voice but the characters’ personalities that demanded some of those scenes. So this point could go either way depending on how you choose to see it.
⚠ Some of the plot turnarounds towards the end were a bit too convenient.
⚠ There was nothing I hated outright. But somehow, the writing didn’t impact me as much as I thought it would. I felt like a bystander watching the proceedings without any emotional investment in the plot or characters.
The audiobook experience:
The audiobook, clocking at just 6.5 hrs, is narrated by Lauren Ezzo. She handles the reading nicely, especially considering the number of characters and back stories she has to cover. She gives a distinct voice to each of the characters. While her male voices are okay, she shines in her portrayal of the three daughters. At the same time, the plot is very complex because of its inherent structure. I wouldn’t recommend this audiobook to audio version newbies. They would be better off reading it.
All in all, pretty good. Kept me invested. Loved the fairy tale and puppet elements and the complex characters. Recommended if you are looking for an intriguing family drama written in lit-fic style.
3.75 stars.
My thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ALC of “The Puppeteer's Daughters”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter
July 30, 2022
The Puppeteer’s Daughter by Heather Newton was a very moving family drama that explored the art of puppetry. It was about the lives of three half sisters, Jane, Rosie and Cora. They all shared the same father, Walter Gray, a famous and successful puppeteer but all had different mothers. As the story begins, all three daughters have come together to celebrate their father’s eightieth birthday. Walter Gray resided in an assisted living facility since he was showing signs of advanced dementia. During the celebration, Walter was thankful to have his daughters surrounding him but he wanted to know where his other daughter was. According to Walter, one daughter was missing. Jane, Rosie and Cora were shocked by their father’s admission. It forced them to put their differences aside and come together to find the sister they never knew. Their father, although not the most attentive or involved father in their childhoods, had become a very wealthy man as a result of his career as a puppeteer. The three half sisters discovered their father’s Will while they tried to find clues about the fourth daughter their father had mentioned. While reading their father’s will, the sisters discovered that their father had added stipulations for each one of them to accomplish before they could be granted the designated money he was leaving for them. During their search for their long lost sister, the art of puppetry was explored. The history of how puppetry went from its dependency on strings to hand held manipulation was explored. While following Walter Gray’s career, the childhoods of the three half sisters were portrayed and fairytales that resembled some aspect of the sisters’ lives were also sprinkled in. Through all of this, the half sisters tried to repair their relationships with each other and their father.
The Puppeteer’s Daughter by Heather Newton had a magical realism element to it. The themes of love, family, sisterly bonding and competition, devotion, forgiveness, shock, betrayal, growth, and a multitude of struggles presented themselves within the pages of The Puppeteer’s Daughters. I really enjoyed learning about puppetry and some of its history. My favorite character was Rosie since her story was given more substance and details than the other characters. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook of The Puppeteer’s Daughter. It was well narrated by Lauren Ezzo. I highly recommend this audiobook.
Thank you to Dreamscape Media LLC for allowing me to listen to this advanced copy of the audiobook of The Puppeteer’s Daughter through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
The Puppeteer’s Daughter by Heather Newton had a magical realism element to it. The themes of love, family, sisterly bonding and competition, devotion, forgiveness, shock, betrayal, growth, and a multitude of struggles presented themselves within the pages of The Puppeteer’s Daughters. I really enjoyed learning about puppetry and some of its history. My favorite character was Rosie since her story was given more substance and details than the other characters. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook of The Puppeteer’s Daughter. It was well narrated by Lauren Ezzo. I highly recommend this audiobook.
Thank you to Dreamscape Media LLC for allowing me to listen to this advanced copy of the audiobook of The Puppeteer’s Daughter through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
July 16, 2022
Three adult daughters have almost nothing in common aside from their father and his legacy as a master puppeteer. Their lives with their father were dissimilar and is the source of resentment between them. Now that their father’s health is declining, they gain access to his will and see that there are some demanding and demeaning stipulations included. The sisters struggle to come together in their care for their father, each other, and themselves.
This was an excellent read! I loved the exploration of the sisters’ lives, how different they were because of the differences in their father’s treatment of them, and how that affected them throughout their adult life. I also loved how the author examined memories and one’s perception of the past versus what actually happened through the use of old family videos and flashbacks.
There were three main protagonists, and they were all well written. I enjoyed their similarities from being siblings but how distinct they still were. They were motivated by completely different things, which was explained well throughout the work by flashbacks.
I also enjoyed the puppetry aspect of the work. I’ve never given much thought to puppets and marionettes, and I enjoyed the details about the shows and puppets themselves that were included throughout the story. There were also many fairytale references as one of the sisters writes alternative fairytales, and they often paralleled the primary plot, which was enjoyable and masterfully done.
This was a wonderful read about family, coming together, and personal struggles and growth. I listened to the audiobook version and thought the narrator did an excellent job. Though I don’t normally read works like this, I highly recommend it!
I received a complimentary copy of this work through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
This was an excellent read! I loved the exploration of the sisters’ lives, how different they were because of the differences in their father’s treatment of them, and how that affected them throughout their adult life. I also loved how the author examined memories and one’s perception of the past versus what actually happened through the use of old family videos and flashbacks.
There were three main protagonists, and they were all well written. I enjoyed their similarities from being siblings but how distinct they still were. They were motivated by completely different things, which was explained well throughout the work by flashbacks.
I also enjoyed the puppetry aspect of the work. I’ve never given much thought to puppets and marionettes, and I enjoyed the details about the shows and puppets themselves that were included throughout the story. There were also many fairytale references as one of the sisters writes alternative fairytales, and they often paralleled the primary plot, which was enjoyable and masterfully done.
This was a wonderful read about family, coming together, and personal struggles and growth. I listened to the audiobook version and thought the narrator did an excellent job. Though I don’t normally read works like this, I highly recommend it!
I received a complimentary copy of this work through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
August 8, 2022
Heather Newton's The Puppeteer's Daughters is one of those reads that feels like a gift: lovely, substantive, and leaving readers with a deep sense of satisfaction. In general, I'm not big on family-story novels. While The Puppeteer's Daughters definitely fits within that genre, I enjoyed it a great deal. The family in this instance is an aging puppeteer with the sort of cachet and respect Jim Henson has. The puppeteer is slipping into dementia. He has three adult daughters, each by a different mother, all of whom have difficult relationships with him and with one another. To complicate things further, he's now told them that there's a fourth daughter, one they've never met and have no idea how to find.
The novel moves into the realm of fairytale as each daughter is (is she really?) granted a wish by a stranger that sets her on a path to a deeper sense of self. Newton makes each of these characters sympathetic. They're definitely imperfect, but those imperfections are human and clearly grounded in their different childhoods. Seeing them confront themselves and one another and gradually come to terms with their very different lives makes for a pleasant reading experience. The Puppeteer's Daughters has a strong narrative arc, but it's the small details of everyday life that really carry the book.
When you're looking for a gentle, hopeful piece of reading, The Puppeteer's Daughters would be an excellent novel to turn to. You'll leave it feeling more forgiving not just of the book's characters, but yourself as well.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via EdelweissPlus; the opinions are my own.
The novel moves into the realm of fairytale as each daughter is (is she really?) granted a wish by a stranger that sets her on a path to a deeper sense of self. Newton makes each of these characters sympathetic. They're definitely imperfect, but those imperfections are human and clearly grounded in their different childhoods. Seeing them confront themselves and one another and gradually come to terms with their very different lives makes for a pleasant reading experience. The Puppeteer's Daughters has a strong narrative arc, but it's the small details of everyday life that really carry the book.
When you're looking for a gentle, hopeful piece of reading, The Puppeteer's Daughters would be an excellent novel to turn to. You'll leave it feeling more forgiving not just of the book's characters, but yourself as well.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via EdelweissPlus; the opinions are my own.
August 12, 2022
I never imagined I would read a book about a puppeteer, but I thoroughly enjoyed The Puppeteer's Daughters by Heather Newton! This was a wonderful story about love, sisterly bonds and the power of connection.
The Puppeteer"s Daughters book is a moving family drama about an aging, dementia suffering, famous puppeteer (think Jim Henson and the like) and his three adult daughters: Jane, Rosie and Cora. The three women are surprised to learn about the possibility of a fourth secret sister, a revelation that leads them on a multi-layered journey of family discovery.
I loved the exploration of relationships in this book, especially those between the three daughters. Jane, Rosie and Cora are half sisters, each born to a different mother in a different phase of Walter Gray's life. Because of this their childhood experiences varied wildly. It was moving to see how this continued to affect the women throughout their lives. Their struggle to overcome these conflicting childhoods, and come together as sisters, was very poignant.
It was also fascinating to learn about puppeteering! I don't think I ever really knew all of the incredible details that go into the making and performing of marionettes and hand puppets. It was really fun to learn about the magic of the craft!
The audio book version of The Puppeteer's Daughters was read by Lauren Ezzo, and she did a fantastic job. There were many voices in this book (including a few puppets) and she brought each of them to life with distinction and clarity.
Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ALC of The Puppeteer's Daughters. My voluntary review contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
The Puppeteer"s Daughters book is a moving family drama about an aging, dementia suffering, famous puppeteer (think Jim Henson and the like) and his three adult daughters: Jane, Rosie and Cora. The three women are surprised to learn about the possibility of a fourth secret sister, a revelation that leads them on a multi-layered journey of family discovery.
I loved the exploration of relationships in this book, especially those between the three daughters. Jane, Rosie and Cora are half sisters, each born to a different mother in a different phase of Walter Gray's life. Because of this their childhood experiences varied wildly. It was moving to see how this continued to affect the women throughout their lives. Their struggle to overcome these conflicting childhoods, and come together as sisters, was very poignant.
It was also fascinating to learn about puppeteering! I don't think I ever really knew all of the incredible details that go into the making and performing of marionettes and hand puppets. It was really fun to learn about the magic of the craft!
The audio book version of The Puppeteer's Daughters was read by Lauren Ezzo, and she did a fantastic job. There were many voices in this book (including a few puppets) and she brought each of them to life with distinction and clarity.
Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ALC of The Puppeteer's Daughters. My voluntary review contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
August 13, 2022
I was so excited. I don't recall reading any book with a puppet, and all the puppet things did not disappoint me. The puppeteer's psyche and attachment to the puppets felt realistic, and may very well be; I didn't fact check. I enjoyed those sections of the book immensely. I had a few wow and I didn't think about that moments.
I didn't care for the daughters. Their part in the story was disappointing. There were times when I was confused as to who I should be thinking about as I was bored and let down by the familial angst.
The narrator was okay, however, I do believe with all the characters and the busyness of the story another narrator or possibly two could differentiate better.
Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for accepting my request to read and review The Puppeteer's Daughter.
I didn't care for the daughters. Their part in the story was disappointing. There were times when I was confused as to who I should be thinking about as I was bored and let down by the familial angst.
The narrator was okay, however, I do believe with all the characters and the busyness of the story another narrator or possibly two could differentiate better.
Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for accepting my request to read and review The Puppeteer's Daughter.
October 11, 2022
The Puppeteer's Daughters by Heather Newton was an audiobook for me and narrated by Lauren Ezzo. I highly recommend listening to it. The narrator was excellent and made this story enjoyable to listen to.
This literary fiction was well written and steeped in family. I didn’t know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised by it. It follows a family of girls that will face the struggles that may break their relationships or maybe it could heal them instead.
Thanks Dreamscape Media via Netgalley.
This literary fiction was well written and steeped in family. I didn’t know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised by it. It follows a family of girls that will face the struggles that may break their relationships or maybe it could heal them instead.
Thanks Dreamscape Media via Netgalley.
August 1, 2022
via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥, 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬’ 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬.
I was a hardcore Muppets fan as a child and loved watching the puppet shows at school, a Rumpelstiltskin performance stands out, the show that terrified me as the irate character stomped his feet in tantrum. Mind you, I was in kindergarten, so when a novel about a Puppeteer became available for review, I had to read it. Master of his marionettes is Walter Gray, who the reader first meets as he is angrily penning a codicil to his will, enraged by his daughters attempting to control him by setting conditions on his driving. The first marionette he ever made, a princess, watches on from her hook. “Her pained expression seemed to chide him”, but he knows he is writing this as a balm, just as some people fire of hurtful letters they never plan to send. Unfortunately, he puts it away and it is forgotten, as are many things in his mind, slowly deteriorating with age. Next, it is his 80th birthday, also the 35th anniversary of his popular, Emmy-nominated children’s show Zeno and Friends. His daughters gather to celebrate their famous father while a reporter is present to photograph the event, sure that his daughters are so very lucky to be his children. The daughters each have their version of good old Walter, as we soon learn.
Eldest Jane should be the ‘heir apparent’ but that honor has always been for the favorite, Cora. Jane was the first but those were not the wealthy years, it was a time of struggle. He wasn’t famous yet, and his attention went to his creations, not his flesh and blood, living daughter. Being his child was often embarrassing and lonely. As an adult she is practical and always frustrated by Walter. Rosie is the middle child, mostly forgotten, unwanted in her youth, product of a one-night stand. She feels lucky to be included at all. Cora was born in the fat years of wealth, success and desire for her beautiful, much younger mother. She is the daughter who has grown up working on puppets alongside her father, keeping alive the world Walter created. Naturally she is lovely too, how can Jane not feel jealous of the sort of beauty that her father so admires? Three daughters… count them… who are confused when Daddy informs them, he has four daughters, not three. Could it be his mind, the confusion of old age? Walter is fast asleep in his new room as the girls are cleaning out his suite in assisted living, they draw out his will and are stunned that he has written conditions, some outright hurtful but it is the paternity test that rocks their world. There is a missing sister!
Jane is disgusted by the news, wants to wish this unknown sibling away, she has been through this before with her father and his arrogant, lusty ways. It cost her so much when the others entered the scene and Walter’s heart, this is the last thing she feels like facing. Cora is happy enough to give up the title of youngest daughter, if there is a fourth, and Rosie dreams that maybe she could finally have a sister to grow close to and love. Maybe someone who is more like her, the ugly duckling, another outsider. Walters actions have affected his daughters in ways they aren’t even yet aware of, but through the search for the missing one, there is much they will uncover. With his machinations, his ‘conditions’, he sees each of them clearly. Of course, there will be dramas and confrontations. Jane’s anger at the ease of Cora’s life, the ‘want for nothing’ existence, that usurpation of Jane’s place is evident. Cora doesn’t understand why the fault is at her feet, for being born? It’s not really on her that Walter took up with her mother, that Jane had a rough childhood by comparison. She is wounded, but why is Cora meant to carry the weight, what could she do to make amends for Walter’s wrongs? Rosie wishes she had more for her sisters to be mad about, but she has never been included. Her life has been lived with ‘backs turned to her’. She is the character who I ached for most, the sister who truly is never a part of anything. Their lives feel like the fairytale world Walter has told his stories through, but not all such tales bring happiness, do they? It is a kingdom Walter has birthed, much to the detriment of the women in his life, wives and lover included.
Walter’s a mystery that thickens to the very end and while he is a difficult man, for all his character defects, he isn’t without redeeming qualities. He does love his children; he is just so very self-absorbed. They learn so much about their father, the good and the bad, but in doing so learn to face their own flaws. Maybe they will finally gain sisters, the very ones they have kept at a distance. It is about dreams, what it costs others to see them come true, resentment, secrets, lies, desires, wounds, the shape of a family and how we decide who deserves a claim in it. I enjoyed the novel, and the perception each daughter had about Walter’s creations, the way they processed his fictional world and his feckless nature when it came to his love life. Jane is repulsed even at a young age, resenting Walter’s absorption, Cora brims with the magical artistry of it all and is more involved in the puppets than real people, Rosie is full of longing, wanting acceptance into the family. It’s a unique tale. It’s about puppets, but more it’s about the relationship between fathers and daughters. Sisterhood too. Yes, a decent read.
Publication Date: July 26, 2022
Available Now
Keylight Books
𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥, 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬’ 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬.
I was a hardcore Muppets fan as a child and loved watching the puppet shows at school, a Rumpelstiltskin performance stands out, the show that terrified me as the irate character stomped his feet in tantrum. Mind you, I was in kindergarten, so when a novel about a Puppeteer became available for review, I had to read it. Master of his marionettes is Walter Gray, who the reader first meets as he is angrily penning a codicil to his will, enraged by his daughters attempting to control him by setting conditions on his driving. The first marionette he ever made, a princess, watches on from her hook. “Her pained expression seemed to chide him”, but he knows he is writing this as a balm, just as some people fire of hurtful letters they never plan to send. Unfortunately, he puts it away and it is forgotten, as are many things in his mind, slowly deteriorating with age. Next, it is his 80th birthday, also the 35th anniversary of his popular, Emmy-nominated children’s show Zeno and Friends. His daughters gather to celebrate their famous father while a reporter is present to photograph the event, sure that his daughters are so very lucky to be his children. The daughters each have their version of good old Walter, as we soon learn.
Eldest Jane should be the ‘heir apparent’ but that honor has always been for the favorite, Cora. Jane was the first but those were not the wealthy years, it was a time of struggle. He wasn’t famous yet, and his attention went to his creations, not his flesh and blood, living daughter. Being his child was often embarrassing and lonely. As an adult she is practical and always frustrated by Walter. Rosie is the middle child, mostly forgotten, unwanted in her youth, product of a one-night stand. She feels lucky to be included at all. Cora was born in the fat years of wealth, success and desire for her beautiful, much younger mother. She is the daughter who has grown up working on puppets alongside her father, keeping alive the world Walter created. Naturally she is lovely too, how can Jane not feel jealous of the sort of beauty that her father so admires? Three daughters… count them… who are confused when Daddy informs them, he has four daughters, not three. Could it be his mind, the confusion of old age? Walter is fast asleep in his new room as the girls are cleaning out his suite in assisted living, they draw out his will and are stunned that he has written conditions, some outright hurtful but it is the paternity test that rocks their world. There is a missing sister!
Jane is disgusted by the news, wants to wish this unknown sibling away, she has been through this before with her father and his arrogant, lusty ways. It cost her so much when the others entered the scene and Walter’s heart, this is the last thing she feels like facing. Cora is happy enough to give up the title of youngest daughter, if there is a fourth, and Rosie dreams that maybe she could finally have a sister to grow close to and love. Maybe someone who is more like her, the ugly duckling, another outsider. Walters actions have affected his daughters in ways they aren’t even yet aware of, but through the search for the missing one, there is much they will uncover. With his machinations, his ‘conditions’, he sees each of them clearly. Of course, there will be dramas and confrontations. Jane’s anger at the ease of Cora’s life, the ‘want for nothing’ existence, that usurpation of Jane’s place is evident. Cora doesn’t understand why the fault is at her feet, for being born? It’s not really on her that Walter took up with her mother, that Jane had a rough childhood by comparison. She is wounded, but why is Cora meant to carry the weight, what could she do to make amends for Walter’s wrongs? Rosie wishes she had more for her sisters to be mad about, but she has never been included. Her life has been lived with ‘backs turned to her’. She is the character who I ached for most, the sister who truly is never a part of anything. Their lives feel like the fairytale world Walter has told his stories through, but not all such tales bring happiness, do they? It is a kingdom Walter has birthed, much to the detriment of the women in his life, wives and lover included.
Walter’s a mystery that thickens to the very end and while he is a difficult man, for all his character defects, he isn’t without redeeming qualities. He does love his children; he is just so very self-absorbed. They learn so much about their father, the good and the bad, but in doing so learn to face their own flaws. Maybe they will finally gain sisters, the very ones they have kept at a distance. It is about dreams, what it costs others to see them come true, resentment, secrets, lies, desires, wounds, the shape of a family and how we decide who deserves a claim in it. I enjoyed the novel, and the perception each daughter had about Walter’s creations, the way they processed his fictional world and his feckless nature when it came to his love life. Jane is repulsed even at a young age, resenting Walter’s absorption, Cora brims with the magical artistry of it all and is more involved in the puppets than real people, Rosie is full of longing, wanting acceptance into the family. It’s a unique tale. It’s about puppets, but more it’s about the relationship between fathers and daughters. Sisterhood too. Yes, a decent read.
Publication Date: July 26, 2022
Available Now
Keylight Books
March 17, 2022
Emotional, delightful, and deft, this novel explores what each member of the Gray family chose to hold close, or let fly away. Love, creativity, time, self...all these and more. At its core this story is about people finding their way to what's true about themselves--within, and outside of, their families. Full of humanity and completely relatable, I couldn't put it down.
July 29, 2022
“The Puppeteer’s Daughters” is a fun and engrossing mix of traditional fairy tales, offbeat original scripts, insights into the world of puppetry, a touch of King Lear, and the basic personality of a romcom.
Walter Gray is a famous puppeteer rapidly succumbing to dementia. As his three daughters (from three different mothers) gather for his 80th birthday party, they learn that there may be a fourth sister. Not only that, but Walter’s will requires each of the acknowledged daughters to fulfill an odd condition in order to inherit her third of his hefty estate: Jane (the eldest, the serious and bossy one) must create a puppet. Rosie (the middle one) must bring her weight down by one-third to 200 pounds. Cora (the favorite, who now runs Walter’s company) must come out “from behind the stage to live among humans.”
As the sisters try to find their missing sibling and cope with the meaning of their father’s puzzling and hurtful will, they are forced to face some truths about themselves. Jane and Rosie have still not untangled themselves from their long-estranged partners. Cora and Jane have stifled their artistic and romantic yearnings. All have been nursing resentments toward one another.
The overall narrative is engrossing, with some sharp plot turns, but there are far too many story lines. Some are simply dropped, some are predictable, and some are tied up too hurriedly and neatly.
The most original aspects of this novel are the puppetry details and the fairy tale riffs, especially Cora’s offbeat “Tangled Tales.”
(This is condensed from my review in "The New York Journal of Books," https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book... )
Walter Gray is a famous puppeteer rapidly succumbing to dementia. As his three daughters (from three different mothers) gather for his 80th birthday party, they learn that there may be a fourth sister. Not only that, but Walter’s will requires each of the acknowledged daughters to fulfill an odd condition in order to inherit her third of his hefty estate: Jane (the eldest, the serious and bossy one) must create a puppet. Rosie (the middle one) must bring her weight down by one-third to 200 pounds. Cora (the favorite, who now runs Walter’s company) must come out “from behind the stage to live among humans.”
As the sisters try to find their missing sibling and cope with the meaning of their father’s puzzling and hurtful will, they are forced to face some truths about themselves. Jane and Rosie have still not untangled themselves from their long-estranged partners. Cora and Jane have stifled their artistic and romantic yearnings. All have been nursing resentments toward one another.
The overall narrative is engrossing, with some sharp plot turns, but there are far too many story lines. Some are simply dropped, some are predictable, and some are tied up too hurriedly and neatly.
The most original aspects of this novel are the puppetry details and the fairy tale riffs, especially Cora’s offbeat “Tangled Tales.”
(This is condensed from my review in "The New York Journal of Books," https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book... )
July 26, 2022
Rating: 4.5/5⭐️
Pub Day: Today!
I do love a good family drama and this one hit the mark. This has a truly unique subject matter of a puppeteering man who fathers three half sisters. These sisters are separated by years and lifestyles and each was given rich backstories alongside their current life struggles.
I really enjoyed learning about what went into becoming a puppeteer, from the mechanisms to the physicality of working them. The subject matter might not be the right fit for everyone, but I found it fascinating!
The narration by Lauren Ezzo was spectacular! I actually had to go back and check because I thought there were multiple narrators giving life to each character. Definitely recommend this one on audio if you’re considering adding it to your list.
Thank you Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the alc in exchange for an honest review!
Pub Day: Today!
I do love a good family drama and this one hit the mark. This has a truly unique subject matter of a puppeteering man who fathers three half sisters. These sisters are separated by years and lifestyles and each was given rich backstories alongside their current life struggles.
I really enjoyed learning about what went into becoming a puppeteer, from the mechanisms to the physicality of working them. The subject matter might not be the right fit for everyone, but I found it fascinating!
The narration by Lauren Ezzo was spectacular! I actually had to go back and check because I thought there were multiple narrators giving life to each character. Definitely recommend this one on audio if you’re considering adding it to your list.
Thank you Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the alc in exchange for an honest review!
July 12, 2022
This was a lovely story about three daughters from different mothers and their famous puppeteer father. The father is turning 80 and is in frail health with dementia. He has written a will with strict requirements the daughters must adhere to in order to inherit his wealth. The daughters also find out he is the father to a fourth daughter. The story is moody and references fairytales throughout the book. Overall it’s about family and forgiveness. It’s a fairly quick read and I enjoyed the audio version provided to me by NetGalley. This is my unbiased review.
August 12, 2022
I will push it to 3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and author and for the free ARC of this audio book.
The book is not my normal go to, but it kept my interest. It was fun hearing about the sisters from their siblings POVs and the earlier making of the marionettes.
The book is not my normal go to, but it kept my interest. It was fun hearing about the sisters from their siblings POVs and the earlier making of the marionettes.
May 4, 2022
My appreciation of The Puppeteer's Daughters crept up on me. It's a poignant and hopeful story about the complexities of the father-daughter relationship.
Famed puppeteer, Walter Gray, is suffering from dementia, bringing the lives of his three daughters closer together. The distance between and the circumstances of their births have driven a wedge between them. The eldest, Jane, feels much was stolen from her by the youngest, Cora. Rosie finds herself lost in the middle feeling inconsequential to her father and sisters.
The revelation of another sister and the failing of Walter's health causes the daughters to reflect on their childhoods and what their father meant to them. Backstory from Walter's perspective gives the daughter's memories more depth allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions about Walter's parenting wins and failures.
I enjoyed being dropped into the world of puppeteering and the fairy tales sprinkled through the book. Despite some events in the story seeming a bit unnecessary or underdeveloped, I was satisfied when I turned the last page. Pick up The Puppeteer's Daughters if you enjoy a good family saga.
Famed puppeteer, Walter Gray, is suffering from dementia, bringing the lives of his three daughters closer together. The distance between and the circumstances of their births have driven a wedge between them. The eldest, Jane, feels much was stolen from her by the youngest, Cora. Rosie finds herself lost in the middle feeling inconsequential to her father and sisters.
The revelation of another sister and the failing of Walter's health causes the daughters to reflect on their childhoods and what their father meant to them. Backstory from Walter's perspective gives the daughter's memories more depth allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions about Walter's parenting wins and failures.
I enjoyed being dropped into the world of puppeteering and the fairy tales sprinkled through the book. Despite some events in the story seeming a bit unnecessary or underdeveloped, I was satisfied when I turned the last page. Pick up The Puppeteer's Daughters if you enjoy a good family saga.
January 8, 2023
“In fairy tales, transformations were instantaneous: princes into frogs, magic beans into vines that tickled the clouds, girls into swans. In the real world, transformations took time and hard work, if they happened at all.”
Heather Newton’s The Puppeteer’s Daughters follows three sisters connected only by their father’s DNA. However, when their father makes the unexpected announcement at his 80th birthday party that there is a fourth, the sisters begrudgingly band together to find out who she is. They are also forced to reckon with the specific stipulations that their father placed on each of their inheritances. These new revelations encourage the sisters to reexamine themselves and their relationships, especially with their father.
The third-person narrative is compelling, and the premise is interesting as well. Newton successfully establishes each sister’s distinct personality and family history, setting the scene for their character development quite nicely. Unfortunately, I didn’t always feel like the character development was quite earned. The struggles that each sister undergoes feels surface-level more often than not, and the resolutions seem a bit sudden and too clean. Rosie was the most well-developed in this regard by far, which made her the most captivating to read about but then caused Jane and Cora’s arcs to pale in comparison.
On a similar note, there’s also a sudden plot twist towards the end that felt somewhat cheap. The introduction of the plot line, twist, and resolution all takes place within a span of about five pages. I understand that it was thrown in to help drive a point home about the meaning of family and forgiveness, but I wish Newton focused on deepening the existing character arcs to adequately justify their payoffs instead.
Towards the middle, the plot line regarding the fourth sister becomes a little lost. Perhaps her main purpose is simply to serve as a catalyst for the sisters’ personal development, but considering how much of each character’s development hinges on her relationship to this revelation, the choice feels a bit odd, particularly when the plot line was suddenly reintroduced.
Lastly, the metaphors in the novel feel heavy-handed. Painting a puppet master as manipulative is hardly a novel idea. I liked the concept of the sisters, especially Cora, understanding themselves through the fairy tales that their father told them as children and consequently rewriting them as adults. The execution usually comes off as cliched, and again, tired at this point. I’ve seen a proliferation of fairy tale retellings through feminist lenses these past few years, and while that was not necessarily always the approach taken here, it easily lends itself to comparison with these other stories and falls short in the process.
Read my reviews on Instagram @a.morganreads
Heather Newton’s The Puppeteer’s Daughters follows three sisters connected only by their father’s DNA. However, when their father makes the unexpected announcement at his 80th birthday party that there is a fourth, the sisters begrudgingly band together to find out who she is. They are also forced to reckon with the specific stipulations that their father placed on each of their inheritances. These new revelations encourage the sisters to reexamine themselves and their relationships, especially with their father.
The third-person narrative is compelling, and the premise is interesting as well. Newton successfully establishes each sister’s distinct personality and family history, setting the scene for their character development quite nicely. Unfortunately, I didn’t always feel like the character development was quite earned. The struggles that each sister undergoes feels surface-level more often than not, and the resolutions seem a bit sudden and too clean. Rosie was the most well-developed in this regard by far, which made her the most captivating to read about but then caused Jane and Cora’s arcs to pale in comparison.
On a similar note, there’s also a sudden plot twist towards the end that felt somewhat cheap. The introduction of the plot line, twist, and resolution all takes place within a span of about five pages. I understand that it was thrown in to help drive a point home about the meaning of family and forgiveness, but I wish Newton focused on deepening the existing character arcs to adequately justify their payoffs instead.
Towards the middle, the plot line regarding the fourth sister becomes a little lost. Perhaps her main purpose is simply to serve as a catalyst for the sisters’ personal development, but considering how much of each character’s development hinges on her relationship to this revelation, the choice feels a bit odd, particularly when the plot line was suddenly reintroduced.
Lastly, the metaphors in the novel feel heavy-handed. Painting a puppet master as manipulative is hardly a novel idea. I liked the concept of the sisters, especially Cora, understanding themselves through the fairy tales that their father told them as children and consequently rewriting them as adults. The execution usually comes off as cliched, and again, tired at this point. I’ve seen a proliferation of fairy tale retellings through feminist lenses these past few years, and while that was not necessarily always the approach taken here, it easily lends itself to comparison with these other stories and falls short in the process.
Read my reviews on Instagram @a.morganreads
August 6, 2022
(Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest feedback)
Let me first give the super-quick summary: I loved everything about this book. Perfection.
This is the story of Walter Gray, famed puppeteer, and his 3 daughters. There's his oldest, Jane, who didn't grow up lavished with the riches of her father and harbors resentment to this day. Rosie, the daughter born out of wedlock after her father's affair, who struggles with her weight and feeling accepted. Cora, the youngest, followed in her father's footsteps into his company and grew up in luxury.
As their father is suffering from dementia and slowly dying, he mentions he actually has a fourth daughter. As this news settles in and the sisters learn the requirements set forth for them in their father's will, we are along for the ride on all the twists and turns coming from all of it.
This book was just perfect. Between stories from the past and present, we get to delve so deep into each woman and the reasons for their strengths and their lingering struggles. We also see Walter's journey through his simple beginnings as a puppeteer, through his years of major fame, and how this all affected his daughters and their three mothers. And some hints about this supposed fourth daughter.
I also loved that we got to really be a part of Walter's passion for puppetry, to learn about his characters and shows, and I honestly learned a heck of a lot about puppets, marionettes, etc. How they work, how they're designed, and so on. Something I certainly never sought out on my own but found very interesting.
Let me first give the super-quick summary: I loved everything about this book. Perfection.
This is the story of Walter Gray, famed puppeteer, and his 3 daughters. There's his oldest, Jane, who didn't grow up lavished with the riches of her father and harbors resentment to this day. Rosie, the daughter born out of wedlock after her father's affair, who struggles with her weight and feeling accepted. Cora, the youngest, followed in her father's footsteps into his company and grew up in luxury.
As their father is suffering from dementia and slowly dying, he mentions he actually has a fourth daughter. As this news settles in and the sisters learn the requirements set forth for them in their father's will, we are along for the ride on all the twists and turns coming from all of it.
This book was just perfect. Between stories from the past and present, we get to delve so deep into each woman and the reasons for their strengths and their lingering struggles. We also see Walter's journey through his simple beginnings as a puppeteer, through his years of major fame, and how this all affected his daughters and their three mothers. And some hints about this supposed fourth daughter.
I also loved that we got to really be a part of Walter's passion for puppetry, to learn about his characters and shows, and I honestly learned a heck of a lot about puppets, marionettes, etc. How they work, how they're designed, and so on. Something I certainly never sought out on my own but found very interesting.
July 16, 2022
Thanks to NetGalley, Turner Publishing, and Dreamscape for this review copy.
The Puppeteer’s Daughters begins at the 80th birthday of the rapidly declining Walter Gray, a famed puppeteer who is a little bit Jim Henson, a little bit Mr. Rogers…but maybe not as wholesome. The party is being thrown by his three adult daughters, who all have different mothers and symbolize very different periods in Gray’s storied career. When Walter lets it slip that there is a fourth daughter, the daughters initially think it may be a sign of his dementia. However, an incomplete paternity test and a series of strange conditions in Walter’s will seem to suggest that Walter’s admission may actually be true.
My immediate thought upon starting The Puppeteer’s Daughters was “this must be a retelling of Shakespeare’s King Lear,” which is particularly interesting as there have been a number of puppet theater productions of King Lear over the years. This feels like a more charming, fairy tale-tinged version of Lear, which I didn’t know I needed but I’m quite happy I got. There are a lot of extremely detailed characters introduced, which occasionally got confusing, but I was eventually able to catch up and sort out everyone’s relationships. Novels about complicated family sagas require that kind of detail, so I did appreciate it in the long run.
This was a great book and I got through it in one day — it just sped by and I enjoyed every moment. It’s not normally the kind of book I think I’d pick up for myself, but I’m so glad I got the opportunity to read it blind.
The Puppeteer’s Daughters begins at the 80th birthday of the rapidly declining Walter Gray, a famed puppeteer who is a little bit Jim Henson, a little bit Mr. Rogers…but maybe not as wholesome. The party is being thrown by his three adult daughters, who all have different mothers and symbolize very different periods in Gray’s storied career. When Walter lets it slip that there is a fourth daughter, the daughters initially think it may be a sign of his dementia. However, an incomplete paternity test and a series of strange conditions in Walter’s will seem to suggest that Walter’s admission may actually be true.
My immediate thought upon starting The Puppeteer’s Daughters was “this must be a retelling of Shakespeare’s King Lear,” which is particularly interesting as there have been a number of puppet theater productions of King Lear over the years. This feels like a more charming, fairy tale-tinged version of Lear, which I didn’t know I needed but I’m quite happy I got. There are a lot of extremely detailed characters introduced, which occasionally got confusing, but I was eventually able to catch up and sort out everyone’s relationships. Novels about complicated family sagas require that kind of detail, so I did appreciate it in the long run.
This was a great book and I got through it in one day — it just sped by and I enjoyed every moment. It’s not normally the kind of book I think I’d pick up for myself, but I’m so glad I got the opportunity to read it blind.
July 12, 2022
Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.
Think Shakespeare's "King Lear" but instead of an old man who ruled a kingdom you have a man that creates puppets and tells stories and you'll get Newton's THE PUPPETEER'S DAUGHTERS. Told through the voices of famed puppeteer and master manipulator Walter Gray's three daughters, Newton gives us a study on what it means to be family, and what it means to be sisters. As Walter's mind fails him, his daughters, Jane, Rosie, and Cora are given not only the conditions Walter has set in order for them to obtain their inheritances, but also with the new information that they have a sibling they didn't know existed. The problem is that dementia has taken Walter from them so that's the only information they know. Told through a mix of present day and memories of the past, readers see Walter's rise to fame... and his romances with various women that have resulted in his daughters all while the daughters grapple with their own emotions of sharing their father with his other families.
This is a quick read and honestly, I didn't think I'd be reading a novel about puppeteers anytime soon, but I'm glad I did. While this isn't my normal type of book to read, I did enjoy it and appreciated the humanity of it.
Lauren Ezzo does a decent job with the audiobook narration, though their male voices aren't great and were somewhat distracting.
Think Shakespeare's "King Lear" but instead of an old man who ruled a kingdom you have a man that creates puppets and tells stories and you'll get Newton's THE PUPPETEER'S DAUGHTERS. Told through the voices of famed puppeteer and master manipulator Walter Gray's three daughters, Newton gives us a study on what it means to be family, and what it means to be sisters. As Walter's mind fails him, his daughters, Jane, Rosie, and Cora are given not only the conditions Walter has set in order for them to obtain their inheritances, but also with the new information that they have a sibling they didn't know existed. The problem is that dementia has taken Walter from them so that's the only information they know. Told through a mix of present day and memories of the past, readers see Walter's rise to fame... and his romances with various women that have resulted in his daughters all while the daughters grapple with their own emotions of sharing their father with his other families.
This is a quick read and honestly, I didn't think I'd be reading a novel about puppeteers anytime soon, but I'm glad I did. While this isn't my normal type of book to read, I did enjoy it and appreciated the humanity of it.
Lauren Ezzo does a decent job with the audiobook narration, though their male voices aren't great and were somewhat distracting.
August 3, 2022
Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for access to the audiobook of The Puppeteer's Daughters by Heather Newton in exchange for an honest review.
CW: fatphobia, diet culture, weight loss surgery, medical content, death of a parent, grief, watch for growing list on StoryGraph.
I had to DNF this book at 22%. In hindsight, I'm not even really sure why I requested access to this book in the first place. Clowns, puppets, and dolls have always freaked me out, and this was not meant to be a horror story (not that I would have sought it out even if it was). This was clearly meant to be a literary fiction, and I'm sure that it is beautiful and will find it's appropriate audience. Unfortunately, I went into this book blind and did not check trigger warnings. In addition to not enjoying/not feeling engaged with the portion of the book that I did listen to, there is a MAJOR content warning for fatphobia and weight loss culture. One of the characters in this book describes themselves as midsize and has been recommended for weight loss surgery. When she goes in for her first appointment, the surgeon tells her that she must lose 40 pounds before the surgery to "show that she is committed". If you haven't unpacked your internalized fatphobia and that doesn't make you mad, let me explain. It is completely inappropriate to recommend weight loss to a person who has otherwise normal health. It is mentally and physically detrimental to force a body to conform to an unnatural state that is not sustainable or healthy. It is poor practice and a lazy prescription. I couldn't read on after listening to half the scene.
CW: fatphobia, diet culture, weight loss surgery, medical content, death of a parent, grief, watch for growing list on StoryGraph.
I had to DNF this book at 22%. In hindsight, I'm not even really sure why I requested access to this book in the first place. Clowns, puppets, and dolls have always freaked me out, and this was not meant to be a horror story (not that I would have sought it out even if it was). This was clearly meant to be a literary fiction, and I'm sure that it is beautiful and will find it's appropriate audience. Unfortunately, I went into this book blind and did not check trigger warnings. In addition to not enjoying/not feeling engaged with the portion of the book that I did listen to, there is a MAJOR content warning for fatphobia and weight loss culture. One of the characters in this book describes themselves as midsize and has been recommended for weight loss surgery. When she goes in for her first appointment, the surgeon tells her that she must lose 40 pounds before the surgery to "show that she is committed". If you haven't unpacked your internalized fatphobia and that doesn't make you mad, let me explain. It is completely inappropriate to recommend weight loss to a person who has otherwise normal health. It is mentally and physically detrimental to force a body to conform to an unnatural state that is not sustainable or healthy. It is poor practice and a lazy prescription. I couldn't read on after listening to half the scene.
July 29, 2022
#thePuppeteersDaughters by Heather Newton is my most recently read #arc from @dreamscape_media - thanks for the audiobook! This story was part family drama, part puppeteer magic, part fairytale. I loved how the puppeteer's fairytales and puppet personalities came into the story and interwove as the narrator reads some bits of their family story as a fairytale. This also gives some commentary on how the art form of marionettes gave way to hand held puppets such as the muppets, much to the dismay of the puppeteers who like the fictional puppeteer of the story Walter Grey, made their puppets by hand infusing their art and imagination into every part of their puppet, from creating them to creating their personalities and schtick. Anyone who enjoys a family drama of sisters, finding lost family, aging parent scenarios, will find this story enchanted by the fairydust sprinkled throughout it, giving this a truly unique and special story. The cover of this book is so gorgeous. I hope you will invest in this story for your own shelves, as it brought a bit of the magic of showbiz and fairytales into the everyday world of complicated and fractured family life! The stars are closer to 4 than 3, I wish goodreads allowed for greater precision on this, dont let that be a negative, I truly enjoyed this story!
August 18, 2022
2.5 stars rounded down.
I listened to the audio version.
In my opinion, this novel was mediocre. Puppets gave me the creeps as a kid, and this book is about the daughters of a famous (fictional) puppeteer. Puppets giving people the creeps was actually mentioned in the narrative, which I appreciated.
The premise of the story is that the father treats his daughters like his puppets, pulling their metaphorical strings to control their lives. The author even states something like this in the text. She should have left this to the reader discover through interesting storytelling and character development. Nope, it was spelled out as though the reader is not clever enough to figure it out. Now dad has dementia and is living in a care home. He added a codicil to his will insisting each daughter do something in order to inherit. This amounts to his efforts to control them from beyond the grave. The premise is so blatant that becomes a cliche. The novel would have been more successful had the author been more subtle.
It's an interesting idea but not well executed. I am giving it 2.5 stars because it could be a fun, if mindless, read for those who enjoy women's fiction and family stories.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
I listened to the audio version.
In my opinion, this novel was mediocre. Puppets gave me the creeps as a kid, and this book is about the daughters of a famous (fictional) puppeteer. Puppets giving people the creeps was actually mentioned in the narrative, which I appreciated.
The premise of the story is that the father treats his daughters like his puppets, pulling their metaphorical strings to control their lives. The author even states something like this in the text. She should have left this to the reader discover through interesting storytelling and character development. Nope, it was spelled out as though the reader is not clever enough to figure it out. Now dad has dementia and is living in a care home. He added a codicil to his will insisting each daughter do something in order to inherit. This amounts to his efforts to control them from beyond the grave. The premise is so blatant that becomes a cliche. The novel would have been more successful had the author been more subtle.
It's an interesting idea but not well executed. I am giving it 2.5 stars because it could be a fun, if mindless, read for those who enjoy women's fiction and family stories.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
July 22, 2022
Jane, Rosie, and Cora are half-sisters navigating their way through their 80-year-old father's dementia. They don't always see eye to eye, they don't even look alike, and all three had drastically different experiences growing up. However, they come together to try to solve a mystery planted in their minds by their dad - there is a 4th sister!
I really enjoyed all of the characters in this book. While they're all quite different, each is struggling with her own challenges which reflect a lot about who they are individually. There are lovely fairy tales (some classic, some reimagined) that are sprinkled throughout the book, and often the sisters' lives are reflected in these tales.
It was intriguing to delve into the world of puppeteering - something I knew very little of before. Cora spoke of the puppets with adoration and respect and the memories they held for all three girls were truly magical. Witnessing the embracing or pushing away of the world of puppets, or of art in general, was very interesting to observe in the three sisters. I didn't particularly enjoy the ending, but the rest of the book kept my attention and I loved following the stories of these three unique ladies.
I really enjoyed all of the characters in this book. While they're all quite different, each is struggling with her own challenges which reflect a lot about who they are individually. There are lovely fairy tales (some classic, some reimagined) that are sprinkled throughout the book, and often the sisters' lives are reflected in these tales.
It was intriguing to delve into the world of puppeteering - something I knew very little of before. Cora spoke of the puppets with adoration and respect and the memories they held for all three girls were truly magical. Witnessing the embracing or pushing away of the world of puppets, or of art in general, was very interesting to observe in the three sisters. I didn't particularly enjoy the ending, but the rest of the book kept my attention and I loved following the stories of these three unique ladies.
July 31, 2022
**Ebook ARC NetGalley
This one was a 3.5 stars rounded up for 4 for Goodreads.
Quotes I loved: "That is the way of umbrellas, they are always where you are not."
"He had tremors in his hands now, a puppeteer's nightmare."
"At some point we all have to appreciate what our parents DID give us and stop resenting what they couldn't."
It was a sweet story about family drama amongst a father, his daughters and his puppets.
The story was interesting throughout. Each of the daughters: Cora, Jane and Rosie were relatable in their own ways. Cora wanted to hold on to her father's legacy and carry it on and was close with her father. Jane was a more logical but bitter, resenting Cora a bit and always feeling "less than" in the family and plus she has her own relationship issues with her ex-husband Pete. Rosie is a 1/2 sister to the other girls and has been in a constant struggle with body image, there is a scene where Rosie's daughter tells her something that devastates her, which made me really sad for her.
I really liked how it ended though, it was sort of open-ended but not in an unsatisfying way.
This is a book that I could totally see being turned into a movie and have an all-star cast.
This one was a 3.5 stars rounded up for 4 for Goodreads.
Quotes I loved: "That is the way of umbrellas, they are always where you are not."
"He had tremors in his hands now, a puppeteer's nightmare."
"At some point we all have to appreciate what our parents DID give us and stop resenting what they couldn't."
It was a sweet story about family drama amongst a father, his daughters and his puppets.
The story was interesting throughout. Each of the daughters: Cora, Jane and Rosie were relatable in their own ways. Cora wanted to hold on to her father's legacy and carry it on and was close with her father. Jane was a more logical but bitter, resenting Cora a bit and always feeling "less than" in the family and plus she has her own relationship issues with her ex-husband Pete. Rosie is a 1/2 sister to the other girls and has been in a constant struggle with body image, there is a scene where Rosie's daughter tells her something that devastates her, which made me really sad for her.
I really liked how it ended though, it was sort of open-ended but not in an unsatisfying way.
This is a book that I could totally see being turned into a movie and have an all-star cast.
August 3, 2022
Family is the best and worst thing that can happen to people. It can light up your life and make it all worth living or break your heart with regret and pain...For the Gray sisters Jane, Rosie, and Cora growing up with different mothers and a father at 3 different points in his life/career it was bumpy road to navigate. Now as their father begins to decline with dementia, they learn that they are not the only Gray sisters, they have a secret sister. The girls are shocked and determined to find this lost sister. Jane, the oldest, worries about having to take on more family responsibility. Rosie, the middle daughter, longs to find a connection with another sister to make her feel like less of an outcast. Cora, the baby, wants to preserve her father's legacy, that she has taken on for herself. After learning the secret of the 4th sister, they find their father has also added a codicil to his will, challenging the sisters to tasks to make them see themselves as he wants them to be. During the hunt for their long lost sisters, they not only discover new secrets as sisters, but discover a father they had long forgotten. I enjoyed the relationships intertwined in this story and the questions and answers that made this family whole.
May 28, 2023
If you read Under the Mercy Trees or McMullen Circle, you know that Heather Newton's books are always about real people grounded in real life--but that they always also have a tiny touch of magic. The Puppeteer's Daughters is no exception. This book skillfully combines traditional fairy tales, original mini-scripts, insights into the art and science of puppetry--not to mention a touch of King Lear--into an engaging read with intriguing undertones. There's a great central mystery that forces the puppeteer's three daughters together on a quest for truth that will reveal each sister's strengths and weaknesses, to themselves and to each other. There's each daughter's personal quest to redefine their relationship with their ailing father, and then there's the little touch of magic in the puppets and the puppeteers, including a homeless puppeteer in the city park who might just be able to foretell the future. This is a wonderful, comfortable book and an easy read, and I guarantee that the characters will stick in your head long after you finish the last page.
July 31, 2022
This was an absolutely lovely and inventive story, about the magic of family and storytelling and love. I thought the narration was brilliant and suited the story perfectly.
I wasn't familiar with Heather Newton prior to this, but I will definitely look her up again. Her characterizations were magnificent - the perfect amount of detail, foibles, and believability were blended together to create fully three-dimensional characters who I couldn't help but root for, even when they were not my favorites or made choices that made me cringe. I really loved the presentation of family dynamics, as well as the business story and underlying mystery about the missing sister. I thought the resolution to that was handled extremely well and found it to be both plausible and surprising.
This was a lovely story and I will definitely be looking for more from Newton.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.
I wasn't familiar with Heather Newton prior to this, but I will definitely look her up again. Her characterizations were magnificent - the perfect amount of detail, foibles, and believability were blended together to create fully three-dimensional characters who I couldn't help but root for, even when they were not my favorites or made choices that made me cringe. I really loved the presentation of family dynamics, as well as the business story and underlying mystery about the missing sister. I thought the resolution to that was handled extremely well and found it to be both plausible and surprising.
This was a lovely story and I will definitely be looking for more from Newton.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.
July 12, 2022
In the beginning this reminded me a lot of The Seven Sisters series - it’s clearly different, but I see the parallels and since I love that series this book started with a leg up. Did I continue to compare them? No, the stories are different - but the vibes are similar. I love these kinds of stories - they remind us that family is messy, and that’s okay. No matter how perfect it looks from the outside, everyone has problems and drama.
This one deals with the problems of dementia as well, which is an issue that I feel needs more attention like this. It’s scary to watch a loved one lose their mind in this way. It’s sad for everyone involved.
Thanks to NetGalley I listened to audiobook and the narrator was fantastic. I really loved the way they told the story. It made it easy to connect with the characters.
This one deals with the problems of dementia as well, which is an issue that I feel needs more attention like this. It’s scary to watch a loved one lose their mind in this way. It’s sad for everyone involved.
Thanks to NetGalley I listened to audiobook and the narrator was fantastic. I really loved the way they told the story. It made it easy to connect with the characters.
July 31, 2022
The Puppeteer's Daughter by Heather Newton is a story about love, family, sisterly bonds and the dynamic between half sisters Jane, Rosie, and Cora.
Walter Gray is a famous puppeteer with a successful career. Now, at his 80th birthday party, surrounded by his three daughters, he feels that there is still something (or someone) missing, a fourth daughter.
Shocked by this news, Jane, Rosie and Cora band together to find their long lost sister. This hunt brings up emotions and flashbacks from the girls' lives. Even though they all have the same father, their upbringing is completely different. Will finding this daughter be something that brings these sisters together, or the event that tears them apart?
Thoughts:
-A quick read that I finished in two settings because I could not put it down.
-Love stories about sisters and their connections and complications.
-Loved the puppeteer aspects that were in the novel.
-The narrator, Lauren Ezzo, did a fantastic job brining the story to life.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
Walter Gray is a famous puppeteer with a successful career. Now, at his 80th birthday party, surrounded by his three daughters, he feels that there is still something (or someone) missing, a fourth daughter.
Shocked by this news, Jane, Rosie and Cora band together to find their long lost sister. This hunt brings up emotions and flashbacks from the girls' lives. Even though they all have the same father, their upbringing is completely different. Will finding this daughter be something that brings these sisters together, or the event that tears them apart?
Thoughts:
-A quick read that I finished in two settings because I could not put it down.
-Love stories about sisters and their connections and complications.
-Loved the puppeteer aspects that were in the novel.
-The narrator, Lauren Ezzo, did a fantastic job brining the story to life.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
December 3, 2022
There is a fairy-tale feeling to this contemporary tale of three daughters and the father who manipulates them as expertly as he does his puppets. Each daughter is compelling in her own way, driven by needs and desires that have roots in their relationship with their father. Hovering over the demands in his will—that each must complete a challenge before receiving their inheritance—is the shadow of what he hints is a fourth daughter. The reader is swept along this path as we learn why each daughter has a different picture of who their father is, thereby gaining a further understanding of the father himself in all of his complexity. Woven throughout is a thread of magic which binds the sisters together into a greater appreciation of each other, as well as their own individuality. Beautifully written, it is also an informative glimpse into the fantastical world of puppetry.
May 23, 2022
The Puppeteer’s Daughters is a delightful, and often profound, contemporary novel that explores the themes of family and identity. It echoes no less a classic than King Lear, as the aging father (the puppeteer of the title) places painful requirements on each of his three daughters in order for them to share in his estate. In addition, it appears that there might be a mysterious fourth daughter, whose identity is to be revealed. Heather Newton has done a marvelous job of taking us as readers inside the world of creativity in general and puppetry in particular, so that almost every chapter considers in one way or another the power of story to define our lives, especially the stories we tell ourselves. Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews