The Good Daughter (A Brennan Sisters Novel)
Porter continues the Brennan family series (The Good Woman, 2012) with Kit, who knows she will make a good wife and mother, if she can find the right man. After investing nearly a decade in a relationship that turns out to be a dead end, Kit tries online dating with no success. Even a chance date with a friend of a friend turns out to be a bust when Michael Dempsey informs her that he’s not “technically” divorced. Kit considers the possibility of adoption as a way to start a family on her own, but puts that plan on hold when Michael shows up at the Catholic school where she teaches to enroll his stepdaughter, Delilah. Suddenly Kit is caught up in the plight of a young woman whose own home life is anything but perfect. Deftly switching viewpoints between Kit and Delilah, Porter tells a wrenching tale about complicated family dynamics, caring for a dying loved one, and spousal abuse, but her deeply perceptive writing and exhilaratingly authentic characters ultimately make this an optimistic story. --John Charles