Thursday, Jun 18, 2009

Book Review: Somebody Else’s Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage

Author:       Elizabeth Brundage

Publisher:    Plume/Penguin

ISBN:          978-0-452-29537-7

Website:      http://www.somebodyelsesdaughter.com/

                 http://www.elizabethbrundage.com/

Type:         Fiction

Pages:        338 Trade Paperback

The Story  

“In the Berkshire mountains of Massachusetts a group of families is connected through the prestigious Pioneer prep school. Into this community enters Nate Gallagher, a teacher and struggling writer haunted by the daughter he gave up for adoption years ago. The girl, Willa—now a teenager and one of Nate’s students—lives with her adoptive parents, Joe and Candace, who have nurtured her with their affection and prosperity. When Willa wins a community service internship and begins working at a local women’s shelter, her friendship with a troubled prostitute raises questions about her own biological past. Despite her parent’s love and care, Willa can’t shake her feelings of confusion and abandonment, and Joe and Candace are too preoccupied with their crumbling marriage to realize her unhappiness.

Beautiful Berkshire Mountains

Joe has other secrets, among them his profession—he makes pornographic films—and his affair with Claire, a feminist artist who recently returned to the area. Joe and Claire stand on opposites side of the issues of feminism, sex, and art, but in the end their affair fortifies them as individuals and they gain strength from each other’s differences.

If Joe and Claire are healed by sex, then Pioneer’s headmaster Jack Heath and his wife Maggie are destroyed by it. Jack’s charming exterior hides the twisted mind of a sexual predator. He begins an affair with Petra, a young prostitute, while fantasizing about his student Willa. Meanwhile, Maggie must keep her husband’s pathological past well hidden.”

I had no expectations about this novel when I received it.  I didn’t read the back cover, nor did I read any reviews.  I was a blank slate when I started this journey which was exactly how I needed to be in order to be shocked, engaged, and engrossed by this chilling tale.

Brundage delivers a novel that provides a myriad of characters where the reader sits in the minds of.  Each character is uniquely tied to the “bigger picture” of the story, yet remains completely separate in his/her inner struggle to find happiness and peace.  Each character gets his/her own time in the mind of the reader in which he/she can understand, empathize, and or despise said character.  For me, I found a depth of understanding these broken people and a desire to see them grow through their personal hurdles.

Somebody Else’s Daughter takes the reader on twists and turns and manages never to lose the reader’s attention.   Although these 338 pages are filled with considerable text, I always looked forward to continuing my read and, at times, felt it was very difficult to put it down. 

I believe that this novel was a terrific book and it would also make an amazing movie as it provides enough characters, twists and turns to keep you glued to the story.  I am quite impressed with Brundage’s writing style and am going to be adding The Doctor’s Wife to my “Books to Buy” list. 

A Little Tidbit:  For those of you who may know Shana of Literarily, her review is quoted in the book’s front page!  Congrats, Shana!

Other Reviews to Check Out:

http://www.skrishnasbooks.com/2008/11/somebody-elses-daughter-elizabeth.html

http://www.3rsblog.com/2008/11/tlc-book-tour-book-talk-somebody-elses.html

http://www.bookroomreviews.com/2008/12/02/book-reviewsomebody-elses-daughter/

http://thefriendlybooknook.com/2008/11/25/review-somebody-elses-daughter-by-elizabeth-brundage/

http://needmoreshelves.blogspot.com/2009/05/review-somebody-elses-daughter-by.html

http://belleofthebooks.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/somebody-elses-daughter/

http://blogginboutbooks.blogspot.com/search/label/Elizabeth%20Brundage

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale:”

When it comes to this recommendation/rating portion of my post, I always ponder whether or not I would lend this book to a friend with a recommendation.  For Somebody Else’s Daughter I would, without a doubt, recommend it!  It’s got just enough drama, romance, mystery and intrigue to keep the reader captivated!  Seeing as how I’d easily and readily recommend it, for the genre: Fiction, I will rate Somebody Else’s Daughter a 8.5 OUT OF 10.

Thank you, Laurie, for the opportunity to read and review this gripping novel!

3 Comments