This Is My Daughter: A Novel

by Roxana Robinson

Book Overview

The author of two books included among the New York Times Most Notable Books of the Year, Robinson is known for her perceptive and powerful chronicling of the hidden realities of WASP family life. In... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679439013
• ISBN13: 9780679439011
• Release Date: June 1998
• Publisher: Random House
• Length: 404 Pages
• Weight: 1.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.3" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Outstanding characterization

It's really necessary to read this book more than once. The author has created great depth of character, and every personality is well-developed. It's true that the characters are not "nice" or particularly likable, but they are endlessly interesting and realistic. I can't believe this whole story came out of the author's imagination; she must have known some of these people. Roxana Robinson is really a phenomenal talent and I agree with one of the other reviewers that this would be a good book for a discussion group. Amanda isn't spoiled. Her parents are indifferent, not indulgent. Amanda does whatever she wants because no one bothers to find out what she's doing. Peter leaves the marriage and his daughter for purely selfish reasons, resulting in a drastic lifestyle change for Amanda and her mother, which he doesn't seem to notice. He wants Amanda's presence every weekend, but he spends no time getting to know her, finding out what she likes, what she thinks, how she feels about the divorce or anything else. He lets Emma have all the responsibility for her. Caroline was dealt a bad hand, but she proceeds to drown in self-pity and pays no attention to her daughter. It's easy to see she is thinking only of herself when she brings men home for one-night stands in the bedroom next to Amanda's. Caroline does nothing to help herself or her daughter to move forward. It is Tess who is the child from hell, who is really spoiled. At the age of three she is already a master of manipulation. If she remotely senses things may not go exactly the way she wants them to she has spectacular tantrums, sometimes several within the hour, crying, screaming, throwing herself on the floor, banging her head on the furniture. She ends up having Emma apologize to her! If she isn't the center of attention, she interrupts adults and shouts over other people's words. At one point she yells at her nanny for not looking at her when she wants to say something. She doesn't outgrow this, either. At the age of twelve she crawls into bed for the night with her mother and stepfather because she has a nightmare or is afraid of the dark. This is really inappropriate behavior, as Peter says to Emma. Emma refuses to listen to him. She always behaves as though Tess can do no wrong. Emma is trying to be the perfect mother, but she doesn't succeed. Several characters tell her she is rigid and intolerant, and it's true. She has rules for the kids that border on the ridiculous. They aren't allowed to chew gum. Amanda, at 15, isn't allowed to have a cup of coffee. The kids are never allowed to watch any television. It would be reasonable to set a limit on the time they spend watching, or to say they couldn't watch certain programs, but Emma takes it to an unbelievable extreme. Meanwhile, Amanda is doing drugs all summer and Emma doesn't have a clue. Emma really has trouble getting along with everyone, including her parents, her sister, her co-worker, her ex-husband, and even Peter. Altho

The darkest child

When you finish Roxana Robinson's brilliant novel you're likely to have its brilliantly drawn characters take curtain calls in your head. And taking the last bow is certain to be Amanda Chatfield, 15-year-old dark child of divorce. Forced to spend a hideous summer vacation away from the indifferent administrations of her social climbing mother Caroline in the legal custody of her ineffectual father Peter, but actually under the rule of her stepmother Emma (the Jane Austen reference cannot be unintentional), who favors her own 11-year-old sunny child, Tess, the sullen Amanda rebels in the most hideous, if expectable, ways.And yet in this unsparing book, which evokes Salinger and Wharton as much as Austen, with its multiple points of view and its tense changes, with its brilliant evocations of New York locales, especially its interiors, you'll end up rooting for Amanda. There isn't much choice: Caroline's selfishness is over the top, Peter stumbles and bumbles along, making big issues out of tennis lessons, while the doormatty Emma, who can't even get Tess's live-in nanny to address her properly, compensates for her personal ineffectiveness by creating petty rules that she expects Amanda to adhere to, and who of course does not. Robinson writes brilliantly: her prose is sharp, unsparing, and to the point. Her characters are well drawn. Unlike most of us, who as grownups look back on our schooldays in a golden haze of nostalgia, Robinson hasn't forgotten the hellishness of adolescence (for Amanda school is something simply to be waited out), and she shows what happens to adults who have forgotten. It's a great novel.

Anyone with children considering a divorce should read this

This was a powerful book with a serious message about the horrors of divorce, especially for children. The book delivers a profound message without being preachy. The characters thoughts are described so lucidly, I feel like I know them personally. This story really rings true.

Brava, Roxana Robinson!

I have never read such a subtle and insightful book about divorce and remarriage. Ms. Robinson has carefully and realistically described the almost upper class Park Avenue New Yorkers who, though well educated and savvy, make the ordinary mistakes we all make when relationships go awry. What makes this novel so special is the author's shifting of perspective, so that by the time the book ends you have had insight into different characters and their view of the divorce/remarriage. What a heartbreaking scene when Peter, in an effort to be kind, takes his ex-wife out to dinner (to Lutece!) to tell her he is getting married again. His wife, who had been fairly unsympathetic until then, is mistakenly sweet and flirtatious, and is then stunned into a shocking public display of tears! And the confused and resentful behavior of the daughters is all too realistic. I grew attached to all of these flawed characters, including the sullen teenager and her stepmother, who couldn't help but show favoritism. Roxana Robinson knows her New York milieu and understands blended families well. Read this book! And if you are in a Book Club this would be a great choice, with lots to discuss.

an excellent and poignant portrayal of family interaction

I thought this was an especially terrific book because it's topic, blended families, is so common to our 90's culture. I thought the best part about the book is that EVERY character had flaws. Tess' mother, whose point of view was the most represented in the story, was not perfect. She made mistakes. And Peter, the husband, was not "the knight in shining armor". He was a good man, but had faults, as well. This story showed family life, warts and all. Additionally, Ms Robinson did a good job in narrative, by subtly building up suspense for an impending tragedy. Great book!