The Daughter Game

by Kate Long

Anna's personal life is in crisis. Her marriage is struggling, and the disastrous affair she began as consolation has now become a millstone around her neck. The place where she feels most secure is the safe and ordered world of the classroom - until a new pupil arrives in her English group.

Kali is beautiful and bright, but also vulnerable. Anna tells herself that it's only natural for a caring teacher to show concern for a troubled student, and believes their developing friendship can save them both. But when that friendship begins to tip over into something more intense, Anna finds her professional and domestic lives caught up together in a spiral that threatens to destroy everyone she ever cared about.

'Only Kate Long could get a character into such a mess, and get her out of it, with such warmth, skill and assurance' "The Times"

'A complex psychological portrait . . . And cracking story-telling too' "Independent on Sunday "

'Compassionate and compelling' "Woman and Home"

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

401 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Hello! And welcome to my GoodReads author page.

New: Pinterest boards!
https://www.pinterest.com/volewriter/... - For my new novel, Something Only We Know

http://pinterest.com/volewriter/bank-... See where Charlotte, Karen and Nan actually live!

and my Bad Mothers Facebook page, with lots of background info on the characters and filming: http://www.facebook.com/BadMothersUnited


I write bittersweet novels about family drama and personal crises, especially stories involving the relationship between mothers and daughters.

I like my books to ask questions such as, What makes a parent good or bad? In what way does a family's history shape its present? How can we make the best of the hand which life has dealt us?

My characters tend to have 'ordinary' backgrounds - but actually I think no one is truly ordinary. We all have amazing tales to tell of risk and loss, survival and disaster and triumph, on whatever scale. The most intense dramas are often played out across a domestic stage, with unexpected discoveries and revelations, patterns repeated or shattered forever, bonds broken and new alliances formed.

I've found myself as a reader that meeting such issues in fiction can help me make sense of the real world around me.

Recurring themes in my books include adoption, pregnancy/fertility issues, mental health, sexuality, disability, infidelity and the breaking of family secrets. I also tend to set the action in a specific place around Lancashire, Cheshire or Shropshire.

Reviews

[Steph · Rating 1 out of 5]

I kept persevering with this book and really wish I hadn't bothered. I've still no idea what the point of the story was and the ending made no sense either. Don't waste your time with this!

[Julie Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book.Some really funny moments as well as sad ones,and a lot of things I think lots of women would relate to in some way.

[Lightblue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Questo libro ha una copertina davvero meravigliosa e anche la trama mi sembrava intrigante. Anna, insegnante in una scuola privata, con un matrimonio pesantemente in crisi e la delusione nel non riuscire a rimanere incinta, concentra tutte le sue attenzioni su Kali, un’alunna con una famiglia problematica, come se volesse vederla più come una figlia che una allieva.
All’inizio quindi ero coinvolta e incuriosita dai mille sbagli di Anna. Continuavo a leggere delle sue debolezze, nell’attesa del colpo di scena. Che però non arriva mai. Più di 400 pagine in cui di fatto non succede nulla, fino ad arrivare agli ultimi capitoli dove seguono eventi uno più paradossale dell’altro. Avevo la brutta sensazione di aver per sbaglio saltato un capitolo, visto che il filo logico era inesistente. Anna sembra quasi instupidita, le sue azioni non hanno alcuna ragione, fino ad arrivare ad un finale frettoloso e precipitoso, che risolve tutto in poche righe, lasciando aperti troppi interrogativi, quasi che l’autrice volesse chiudere a tutti i costi.
Peccato, gli altri libri della Long li avevo decisamente più apprezzati.

[Kate McDougall Sackler · Rating 1 out of 5]

So disappointed in this book. It had a great premise, but fell flat in the execution. I was expecting a story about a teacher who has an inappropriate relationship with her student. However, this was really an extremely depressing book about a woman in an unsupportive marriage who suffers several miscarriages and then cheats on her husband with her brother-in-law to get pregnant and then gets more depressed. Unlikeable characters did not help. Give this a miss.

[Msdot · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such a page-turner and promising story line, but oh so disappointing turns of events. None of the characters are likeable and I just couldn't emphatise with any of them.

[Plum-crazy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good read from Long although, to my mind anyhow, a more serious read than the likes of "Queen Mum". The cover blurb says "Only Kate Long could get a character into such a mess, & get her out of it, with such warmth, skill & assurance" & boy does Anna get herself in a mess!

For me the tale was totally plausible. At times I was seething in indignation at how Anna was treated at school by staff & pupils - well, pupil, trouble maker Nathan being the only real culprit. At other times I was cringing & practically shouting at the book over Anna's actions towards Kali - get a grip woman, what the hell are you thinking?!!! All-in-all an entertaining read.

[Ava Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll admit, I nearly DNF’d this book around the middle — the chapters started to drag, and some felt like they had no real purpose. That said, I really appreciated Anna’s background, especially her relationship with her mother. The theme of a woman who saw motherhood as her only purpose really struck me — it’s a hard reality, and it was portrayed with emotional weight.

Anna was clearly trying to look out for Kali, but Kali was already a damaged person in many ways. Anna’s husband was complicated too — flawed, definitely, but one thing’s for sure: he loved her.

And as for Trent… he’s just a total twat.

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Liked this book but I felt like the main bit of the plot towards the end seemed a bit rushed when she was living with her and trying to mother her as the rest of the book seemed to have a very long build up to this point.

It was good though I got wrapped up in her thinking that she could have the baby as she was so desperate.

[Gilden · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a struggle to finish this. I just said to my husband “Thank God that’s finished, it was a depressing load of ***** with no ending!” I guess that’s my review.
I’ve given two stars just because there was enough in it to keep me reading and I couldn’t work out how it could end…turns out it didn’t really!

[Rahul Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story really didn't go anywhere. First, Anna went through misscarriages, then an affair with her brother in law to get pregnant, which she ended abruptly. Later, she got mixed up with a student named Kali which further got her into depression.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Kate Long's books. This one was a engrossing story about Anna's tangled mess of a life.

[Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good easy to read story.

[Jackie Neill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book couldnt put it down

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful characters and thought provoking narrative - I could have easily read more of this story!

[Rosie (A Rose Between Pages) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like how this was written so I ended up DNFing and I didn't really like the narrator's voice. I just wasn't interested in this.

[Lorraine Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit weird…wouldn’t recommend to a good friend.

[Jules · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say that this book is like many others I have read in critically being a game of two halves. In book terms this may need some explaining and here it’s simply that the first very strong part of the book seemed to be let down by a very disappointing second half and ending of the book to me. Although I essentially liked the story and the premise of the book, it’s such a shame that the momentum was not maintained during the second part of the story – simply a bit of a let down really.

In the first half of the book, Long opens up a family drama where teacher Anna’s life is steadily spiralling out of control. Here, she ends an affair with her brother in law and attempts to seek satisfaction from a long-held teaching job. Fighting her motherless forties blues, Anna asks herself questions on who she is and where she is going and – seriously – forty-something women will be able to relate to her here as she existentially ponders her place in the universe. We know that she is not unique.

The second half of the book and Anna breaks down completely in a weird and un-relatable way. She finds solace in and begins to mother a wayward and abandoned female ex-pupil and (I’m sorry to say) the story becomes awry and a little undecipherable here. From a solid start as a book that covers the kitchen-sink nature of a regular early fortysomething woman with ‘regular’ societal issues, it seems that the author Long really loses her plot path where boundaries intermingle and the protagonist becomes too confused and broken on her journey into a mess of pulpy nothingness.

It thus becomes really hard to judge a book and even consider a star rating when a plot degenerates before your very eyes. I so enjoyed reading about Anna’s everyday twisted banality but the last one hundred pages or so of the book made the story shapeless and difficult to make a final analysis. I will give the book three stars for the promise made in the first half. It’s a shame that the book has to end so lamely though – two stars lost for not enough thought being made to keep up a steady and credible plotline. What a waste of good characters and early promise!

I do so, so hate it when potentially good little books go wrong and this one majorly did. Grrrrrr!

[Hannah W · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reality of this book was quite different to my expectations of it, which isn’t to say that it was bad, not at all, just quite a change from what I had anticipated. I had previously read Swallowing Grandma, The Bad Mother’s Handbook and Queen Mum by the same author, and enjoyed them all (particuarly the first two) as light, humourous reading. I picked this up during our house move expecting the same, but as I ploughed on through the novel I discovered that Kate Long has here ventured into darker territory. There is humour, just about, but there is also a huge undercurrent of dissatisfaction and laughs are supplementary to the plot rather than at its core.

... [Read the rest of my review here: https://whathannahread.wordpress.com/...]

[sisterimapoet · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted a quick, easy read after my last book. And I got that with this. But I didn't get much lasting satisfaction either. It felt a bit like junk food. It tastes ok at the time, fills a hole, but rapidly loses its appeal.

I liked it more as it went on, and the relationship between teacher and pupil grew more involved, but the writing itself was a little too throwaway for me. I would have liked more emotional depth. Less daydreaming and staff-room banter.

Always good to pick a book from outside of my normal reading zone. If only to know where I don't want to go again.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book although it is a bit dark in places. The lead character is having an affair with her brother-in-law in order to conceive a child but miscarries. She is a teacher and finds herself becoming attached to a female pupil who she perceives is the daughter she would have had. I feel it had a rather weak ending.

[Kei · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book a long, long time ago, but I think that it's time for me to write an honest review about this book.

I really forget what this book is about, and all I remember is that this book is not great. At all. Maybe some people might like this, but I really don't. That one star is a pity star I gave, so yeah.

[Casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I managed to finish this book in a day but it was due to excessive boredom on a Sunday afternoon rather than it being an amazing read. Though there were some sweet moments, the whole thing felt a bit rushed and I didn't really connect to the characters at all. It was readable enough but only because of a light and easy narrative rather than it being particularly entertaining.

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just had to check this book to remind myself what the ending was...
Enjoyed it all the way to the 3/4 mark, then for me it seemed like the author was rushing to finish it within a word-count, just like we all do on www.adwoff.com's tmas pages (rip for those, tho).

[Laurasmasher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had soo much potential..the possibilities were/are endless with a plot/topic like this. I was very disappointed in the ending, and felt like writing my own ending to it. Such a build up and then let down. Almost like Kate Long was on a time limit and rushed writing the end.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shows just how precarious the line is between teacher and pupil. I admire the author for exploring a slightly different direction with her writing. I enjoyed the book and have put it in pride of place with the rest of my Kate Long collection.

[Cristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I liked this book a lot! I am surprised that it has gotten such poor reviews. I really related to the main character, so that helps a lot. I of emotional suspense. Not great literature, perhaps, but I was engrossed.

[Ilse · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yaaaaawn! Picked this up from the library because I really liked the cover.. Pleased I didn't spend money on it. Seriously, don't bother.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good easy to read story.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

An average read, a good read if your on holiday and your not looking for anything too taxing.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow the ending of this book was spectacularly bad.