My Thoughts on The Other Daughter

Back in October, I introduced you to Miralee Ferrell and her first novel, The Other Daughter. Over the long weekend, I had a great time finally sitting down and reading the book.

You may remember the general premise of the story. A girl named Brianna shows up at Susanne and David's door, claiming to be David's daughter. Even though she was born before David and Susanne's marriage, he always swore to Susanne he had never slept with anyone but her. So, in addition to the problem of a sudden addition to the family, Susanne has to deal with the fact that David has been lying to her since the start of their marriage.

I knew from reading the synopsis of the book that I would enjoy the story. I love character-driven tales and figured I'd be caught up in this family's struggle to deal with this shattering situation. I did not, however, expect the book to be such a page-turner. For the first time in awhile, I had to slow myself down as I read. Instead of chewing over the words and paragraphs, I found myself gulping them whole, trying to get through to the next part of the story. Yes, Miralee did a great job of showing real people trying to cope with real problems. But she also threw in a fast-paced plot. Also, by the end of the story, I cared so much about all the characters that I couldn't wait to finish and make sure that everyone came out okay. (Except the bad guy. And believe me, there was a very bad guy. I couldn't wait to see him get what he deserved.)

Kudos to Miralee for a great first novel. I can't wait to see what she has up her sleeve next.