Daughter of Mine in Aussie Readers

Feb 28, 2017 Helen rated it it was amazing

Where do I start? Can I say wow what a fabulous story? Yes I can, I loved this one beautifully written so many fabulous characters who come to life on the pages they became friends, and friends that I cried with laughed with and wanted to yell at throughout the story there is a lot going on secrets that have been kept for nearly fifty years and when they come out lives will change forever.

This is the story of a privileged family in Victoria’s Western district they come from squatters in the earl Where do I start? Can I say wow what a fabulous story? Yes I can, I loved this one beautifully written so many fabulous characters who come to life on the pages they became friends, and friends that I cried with laughed with and wanted to yell at throughout the story there is a lot going on secrets that have been kept for nearly fifty years and when they come out lives will change forever.

This is the story of a privileged family in Victoria’s Western district they come from squatters in the early 1800’s they have a rich and honoured history but do they? There are always secrets and black sheep of the family and now a secret is about to be discovered that will lead to the three Chirnwell sisters Harriet (Harry), Xara and Georgie’s lives as well as their Mother’s Edwina being up ended and that is not the only thing that is happening there is lovers reunited new love discovered and extra family members as well as families torn apart by criminal accusations and scandals that rock the town of Billawarre.

Harry, Xara and Georgie are all very different sisters Harry a successful Doctor with a loving husband and beautiful daughter, Xara a stay at home Mum who leads a very busy life with her loving husband children and the sheep farm to run and Georgie the teacher who has been through heartache but even though they have their differences in the end they are sisters who love and care for each other but their lives change and their journey is very rocky and the path a tough one to tread but tread it they do. The women in this story are strong and capable and mostly easy to love as you get to know them.

I don’t want to give any spoilers away but I do highly recommend this book it truly is a remarkable amazing story of families and the rules that they live by the loves, the loses, the highs and lows that come daily and sometimes with a big bang that rocks everyone. I smiled I cried and I found such joy in this story. Thank you MS Lowe for a wonderful story that kept me turning the pages this one is a keeper and will stay with me for a long time.
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Mar 03, 2017 Janine rated it it was amazing

Shelves: net-galley, for-review

This is the first book of Fiona's that I have read, and I believe that she has quite an extensive backlist of books. I think this is her first commercial Women's Fiction book, and I feel so privileged to have read it. I love stories about families and this book is an absolute winner. The pressure to maintain an image on a well-respected and somewhat wealthy family in a smallish town is huge, but every family like this has a facade and Edwina who is the matriarch of the family has a secret that s ...more

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May 01, 2017 Nicola Marsh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: women-s-fiction, aussie-authors

This is so good, I devoured it in 2 days (and it's a big, thick paperback!)

A wonderfully heartwarming story of families, siblings and the secrets they keep.

Thoroughly enjoyed! ...more

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Feb 27, 2017 Bree T rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley, kindle-version, arc, women-s-fiction, australian, aww2017

I’ve never read Fiona Lowe before but she is the winner of multiple awards (including a RITA) so I was pretty intrigued by this one. It’s quite a complex story line featuring several generations of the same family who hail from wealthy, privileged and respected landowners – the “squattocracy”.

Harriett, Xara and Georgie couldn’t really be more different. Harriett has always been the rigid one, very driven and dedicated. Not only does she push herself hard to always be successful and almost perfec I’ve never read Fiona Lowe before but she is the winner of multiple awards (including a RITA) so I was pretty intrigued by this one. It’s quite a complex story line featuring several generations of the same family who hail from wealthy, privileged and respected landowners – the “squattocracy”.

Harriett, Xara and Georgie couldn’t really be more different. Harriett has always been the rigid one, very driven and dedicated. Not only does she push herself hard to always be successful and almost perfect in a way, but she also pushes her daughter hard as well. Xara has had to learn to be adaptable – as the mother of a child with a lifelong debilitating disability and also twin boys, her life is total chaos where they’re always just scraping buy compared to Harriett’s organised life and quiet wealth. Georgie is a primary school teacher (seemingly stuck with a “difficult” sort of class) and the only one to have made her home away from the local area where they all grew up and their names are an integral part of the history and make up of the town. Who they are and where they came from is of varying importance to them – unsurprisingly Harriet is the most attached the family name and reputation and it is her that reacts in the worst way when she is first betrayed and then confronted with some unexpected news.

In a way I felt for Harriett because the more rigid someone is, the harder it is for them when terrible things happen. And there’s no doubt that Harriett’s life implodes. Someone she loves, someone she respected, does something utterly horrible and she is blindsided by it and then the response to her hurt is perhaps even worse. She is also ostracised, shunned, labelled as a co-conspirator by the locals and her practice suffers greatly as a result. But it was hard to completely sympathise with Harriett because so much of what happens after that first betrayal is of her own making. She’s so rigid and so demanding on what must be done that she overlooks so many important things. She’s concerned with image and how things look and the fact that things like this just don’t happen in their family. Because they are better than that and that was an attitude that I couldn’t sympathise with at all. Despite people attempting to reason with her, she really did stay frustratingly stubborn and judgemental for the longest time. Harriett for me felt like a very interesting study for “nature vs nurture” – there’s no doubt her fractured relationship with Edwina was a product of the distance between them when Harriett was very young and also Edwina’s illnesses. However Harriett also aspired to be very much like her father, wanted to emulate him in every way. She adored him clearly and it’s very difficult for her when she’s forced to confront some of his faults, long after his death. It did make me wonder how much of her nature was because she wanted to be that way, that she thought being that way was more superior than being more like Edwina.

I don’t have a sister but everyone I know with one says that it’s a very complex relationship and these three definitely have that. Georgie and Xara are more mellow personalities, more alike probably and more able to sit and just chat. Harriett is always doing something or going somewhere and she doesn’t seem like she’s as close to the other two as they are to each other. They do rally around in times of crisis, but it’s a lot of things that pile on top of one another – Edwina’s new man friend, the betrayal Harriett experiences and resulting fall out (it also affects Xara and her husband Steve quite personally as well) as well as what happens after that and it isn’t long before fractures in the relationships Harriett has with everyone are showing.

I really loved Edwina’s story, which is told in bits and pieces throughout and I actually think that could’ve made a great book on it’s own – following her from a teenager up until the age she is at the beginning of this novel. She’s experienced a lot of heartache juxtaposed with a lot of privilege and the Edwina that is presented to the world is different from the Edwina that lies beneath the surface. Loved the character of Doug and I loved the fact that they were able to reconnect after so many years and still find something there. There were many surprises that came out of that which made for very interesting reading and added many layers to the complexity of the story.

For the most part, this is a really engaging multi-generational family story with plenty of drama, intricate relationships (some connections are very intricate!) and intriguing reveals. However there were times when for me, it felt a little bit long and Harriett’s hysteria and stubbornness over something was quite irritating. I don’t really know much about the whole squattocracy thing but sometimes the family reputation thing felt a little outdated, something that people would’ve focused on earlier but shouldn’t really seem as relevant now.

Those are little things though and this is still an excellent read. ...more

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