Daughter's Keeper

by Ayelet Waldman

Book Overview

How much would you sacrifice to save someone you love?

When Olivia, wild-haired and headstrong, makes a terrible mistake, she must turn to the person least likely to help--her mother, Elaine. Motherhood was a role that Elaine never embraced and her best never amounted to much. But now Olivia faces prosecution for a na ve connection to a drug deal and she needs Elaine more than ever. As the days count down and Olivia's future...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1402203136
• ISBN13: 9781402203138
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
• Length: 359 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

pure enjoyment

I speak for not just myself, but my entire book group when i say that this book was pleasurable and intriguing. First off, the story plot wasn't a rehashing of the same old story. Obviously Mrs. Waldman's through understanding of the legal system, and it appears, this matter of trug trafficing in particular, lent a emotional aspect to a subject I often find very dry. Couple that with the unusual, or I take that back, not unusual (as most women I know have strained realtionships with their mothers!) but rather often unspoken mother-daughter relationship's trials and tribulations. The two women struggling to forgive each other and themselves was at times hard to read but nonetheless honest.I look forward to reading more of her work.

Smart, fast and emotional

This book is the story of a young woman who battles America's drug laws. 22 year old Olivia Goodman is in a bind when her boyfriend, illegal Mexican immigrant Jorge, is persuaded to participate in a drug deal, and Olivia's vague complicity sweeps her into an intense legal battle when she is arrested with Jorge. Her mother, Elaine, has choose between helping her daughter and pleasing her fiance. I really liked this book a lot because of the way it explores the relationship between Olivia and her mother - it starts off with clashes and discomfort, and develops and changes throughout her experience and actually had me in tears by the end. I also liked the author who has a lot of knowledge about the legal system and the drug laws in question. It taught me a lot about these laws that I'd never considered before. I always like books where I learn interesting things! A fast moving story to the end.

Wonderful read.

This is a great, fast-paced read from the author of the Mommy Track mysteries. She tackles more serious subject matter this time, but never loses her wit and sense of humor. There's a valid social message here, but Ayelet doesn't shove it down our throats or beat us about the heads with it; the characters are multidimensional and very much alive, and the prickly intimacy of the relationship between a middle-aged mother and her grown daughter is captured very aptly. Ayelet delivers the legal maneuverings and courtroom tension you might find in a John Grisham novel with the intelligence, wit and warmth of the Ivy League educated attorney and mother that she is. It makes for a great combination and a very satisfying read.

A GREAT BOOK

Do you want to read a REALLY good book? One that you can't put down? DAUGHTER'S KEEPER by Ayelet Waldman the best book I've read in a long time. Walman, besides being a smooth, even writer, weaves the hot issues of drugs, abortion, racial intergration,with most definitely the U.S. federal Court System. Some reviewers say that Waldman is prejudice concerning the system. There are thousands of stories that contradict that idea. Last there are mother-daughter issues, love, much weeping and memorable characters.

Poignant story of a family in crisis.

Ayelet Waldman, in a startling departure from her Mommy-Track Mysteries, has written a serious novel called "Daughter's Keeper". It is about a middle-aged woman named Elaine Goodman who owns her own pharmacy, lives with a man she loves, and is contentedly looking forward to a restful retirement. Elaine's happiness would be complete were it not for her contentious daughter, Olivia. Olivia is a college dropout and a political activist. She was jailed briefly on several occasions for participating in various protests, and she works as a waitress to support herself and her boyfriend, Jorge, an illegal immigrant. Olivia never knew her father, and her relationship with her mother has always been thorny. This uneasy mother-daughter relationship is tested when Olivia faces a series of legal and personal crises that threaten to destroy her future. Suddenly, Elaine must make some tough decisions. Should she concentrate on keeping her own life on track, or should she sacrifice her plans to help Olivia? Waldman slowly and deliberately sets up her story and she fleshes out her characters carefully. We get to know Elaine as a person who has suffered and struggled to get where she is, and who admits that mothering Olivia has never been easy for her. Olivia is a caring and compassionate individual who is too brash, naive, and impulsive for her own good. A particularly fascinating character in this novel is Izaya Feingold-Upchurch, a passionate defense attorney who helps Olivia when she gets into serious legal trouble.Waldman explores many themes in "Daughter's Keeper". How much do we owe our children, especially when they reach their twenties and act irresponsibly? What is the statute of limitations for parents when it comes to rescuing their adult children? While telling the story of Elaine and Olivia Goodman, Waldman also discusses the legal and social ramifications of the often unfair and draconian federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws. This part of the book is both instructive and extremely disturbing. "Daughter's Keeper" is a beautifully written and heartrending account of one family's wrenching journey towards understanding and reconciliation. Although it is a sad journey, it is one well worth taking.