Novel, 1993

Beautifully told story of Daisy Goodwill Flett, whose seemingly ordinary life is told through a narrative which moves around between different members of her family and uses other devices and points of view to build a picture, not only of Daisy, but also of the relationships with her family members and friends. There’s a real depth and warmth in this book, right from the circumstances around Daisy’s birth, to the stock check which takes place at the end of the story, in a life covering most of the twentieth century. There are a strong matriarchs and errant husbands, gardening columnists and bio scientists and a host of other characters – a large of whom the reader really gets a good introduction to. A seemingly simple, but multi-faceted and beautifully crafted novel.