Erica James, author of Mothers and Daughters, which was published earlier this year by HarperCollins and received by Jonathan Ball Publishers, is a British writer with some 23 best-selling romance novels to her name.
Mothers and Daughters is a family drama involving two daughters and their sixty-something mother who had always been close but now find themselves on unfamiliar ground and facing significant changes in their tight-knit family constellation. Each of the women is entering a new phase after the father’s sudden death and the subsequent entrance of two new suitors into their tight family unit. Since the death of her husband, Naomi, who lives in an idyllic coastal village, is having to rebuild her life after a long and trying marriage during which she sacrificed much.
The eldest daughter, Martha, has been married for a few years. She idealised her father and inherited much of his strength, sensibility and determination. She has her life neatly mapped out, but is challenged when she doesn’t fall pregnant within the planned timeframe. In stark contrast, the younger daughter Willow is much more easygoing, a bit of a drifter and has, therefore, never quite lived up to her father’s high standards. When she meets a charming man, her mother and sister are convinced that he will give Willow good cause to settle down.
James is evidently a seasoned romance writer. Perhaps it’s the fact that I don’t really subscribe to the genre, or the typical style of romance prose seen in Mothers and Daughters, but I’ll admit I found myself bored at times not only with the storyline but also the dialogue and the rather unrealistic ending. Still, I was pleasantly surprised at certain changes of tempo, and the novel does tackle a few serious issues, including the long-term damage inflicted by domestic violence and coercive relationships and how it often leads to victim guilt, self-loathing, secrecy and strained family relationships. And the havoc it can wreak within even the most seemingly ‘normal’ and close-knit of family units.
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