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They were born on the same day, in the same small New Hampshire hospital—but Ruth Plank and Dana Dickerson are different in nearly every way.
Ruth is an artist, a romantic with a rich, passionate, imaginative life—the fifth daughter born to a gentle, caring farmer and his stolid wife. Raised by a pair of capricious drifters, Dana is a scientist and realist whose faith is firmly planted in the natural world. From the 1950s to the present, the lives of the “birthday sisters” parallel and oddly intersect, as each struggles to find her place in a world in which she has never truly felt she belonged. Sharing little except a birth date—and a love for Dana’s wild and beautiful older brother, Ray—two virtual strangers will travel alternate paths winding through first love, first sex, marriage, parenthood, divorce, and tragic loss...until both are forced to reevaluate themselves and each other when past secrets and forgotten memories unexpectedly come to light.
On July 4, 1950 in New Hampshire, Ruth Plank and Dana Dickerson are born at the same hospital. Ruth is the youngest of five sisters; whereas her father is a caring farmer who loves his girls including his "Hurricane baby"; her mother is distant. Dana wants stability as her parents drag her and her older brother Ray with them as they follow capricious dreams into one disaster after another. The families remain friends as once a year the Plank brood visits the wandering Dickerson clan regardless of where the latter resides for the moment. Artistic Ruth the romantic reunites with Ray in a haze of sex and drugs at Woodstock. Dana dreams of love with a woman as she becomes an agricultural student where she meets assistant Professor Clarice. As each woman settles into their career of an artist and a scientist, they dream of finding a loving mate and raising children, but also need to know the family link between their parents.
This is an intriguing drama that sweeps through the decades as told by the rotating perspectives of the "Birth" sisters. The fully developed cast enhances the appealing story line that owned by Ruth and Dana as fans will be swept up in their tales and like them with a need to know what connects two families. Joyce Maynard provides a brilliant baby boomer historical saga.
Harriet Klausner
13 out of 16 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Girlysailor
Posted December 1, 2010
The book tells a tale that was pretty easy to figure out...and I found myself rushing to the end to see if it ended the way I thought it would. It did.
Simple read..not hard to keep track of the characters since they were a little one-dimensional. If you have some time, and are looking for something easy to mentally digest...this is the book.
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The Good Daughters-Two sides of the same coin, or should I say strawberry plants? (Once you read the book, you'll know what I mean.)Through Joyce Maynard's insightful writing, I found the off-shoots, Dana and Ruth, to be not only good daughters, but also strong women, each with a powerful belief in herself that held true through times of duress as well as triumph. I would have welcomed both of them as my daughters and loved each girl expressly for the very uniqueness of her character and spirit.
At times, I wanted to look directly into the faces of the girls' mothers, Connie and Val, and ask, "What the heck are your problems? Can't you like your daughters if they aren't the spitting image of you?" From the beginning, however, I admired and genuinely liked Connie's husband, Edwin Plank, the solid farmer, with his knack for plant propagation, for his seeming fair mindedness and acceptance that things were as they should be. But were they? Who was the elephant in the room that everyone stepped around for decades?
Maynard portrayed in Plank an honorable and understanding personality, but I began to see, as the story unfurled, that something was amiss. This man, this father, carefully placed selected strawberry shoots, spacing them evenly around the mother plant, like rays of the sun, letting them take root for the next season. (But was he as careful with the women in his life?) This act may be best for raising strawberries to be their finest, but I came away believing mothers and daughters of the human variety need to settle into their own nests-leaving Edwin's husbandry for the cultivation of plants and livestock would have lessened the grief and confusion that dominated the lives of two families.
Maynard does know how to tell a story depicting the human condition as few others. She makes you squirm a little, and think a lot, and, even though you may think you know exactly what's going on, you won't until she thinks it is time to let you know. This engaging tale will stay with you long after you have read the last sentence of The Good Daughters.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 10, 2012
I figure out what happened in the beginning of the story and I think the author wanted us to know. I liked the book and found that I couldn't put it down. I wanted to know how and why it happened. I was pleasantly surprised because it does have a little twist in end.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 2, 2012
Enjoyed this well written, itneresting story.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 6, 2012
I read this after my mom recommended it. Keeps you guessing until the end.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Pea70
Posted September 21, 2011
Like other reviewers, I found that I had it "figured out" 1/2 way through the book, however, the "why" of the situation was why I kept reading - I really really wanted to know WHY and HOW it happened. While it wasn't the best book I've read this year, it was one that I couldn't put down and am still thinking about days later. Isn't that what an author wants their book to be? This was the first I've read by this author and I will add her others to my to read pile.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 13, 2011
I greatly enjoyed this novel.. the story line kept me engaged and although it was heartbreaking it was also unique and lovely.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 8, 2011
This is the first book that I've read by this author. The characters are compelling, the story line complicated and the ending perfect. I could not put it down until I finished it. A lovely, lovely read
2 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 2, 2010
I have read other books by Joyce Maynard ... but I have to say this one was the BEST!!! I couldn't put this book down!
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.One word can sum up how I feel about this book, WOW! Yes, the word has to be capitalized to get the point across. The Good Daughters should not be missed! If you are a woman, you will love this book. Joyce knows how to get a reader hooked for life. I can't wait for her next book!
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 18, 2012
You'll get to know each member of two families. Their personalities, talents, hopes and dreams come through in as the plot unfolds. However, don't think you've figured the whole story out as there are some interesting twists and turns. It's a great read!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted June 15, 2011
I am not really sure if I liked this book. However, I read it to the end. It was different and somewhat interesting. Might be good for a book club.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I enjoyed this book, didn't love it.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 30, 2011
truly a beautiful story
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 6, 2011
i regret buying this book. just check it out from a library if it seems interesting to you. it was a less than great book. not extemely terrible.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.A two-sided tale of girlhood that lurches clumsily into womanhood from the perspectives of oddly matched "birthday sisters." Two women born in a small town hospital on the same day, Dana and Ruth couldn't be more dissimilar.
Wrapped in the Plank family's farm life, Ruth's life is driven by the seasons, dependable, regular. Taller and thinner with a strong artistic bend, Ruth struggles to fit in with her four practical sisters and gain the approval of her often-dour mother, Connie. The sunspot in her life is father Edwin, whose love of plant life is only overshadowed by his love for his girls. Connie often chastisement Ruth using Dana as a guidepost, hoping Ruth might better mirror her birthday sister. Edwin quietly buffers Ruth against Connie's aversion with his stolid support, ambling about the property with her in tow, spending time with her more than with his other daughters, encouraging her interest in art.
Stuck in a life as predictable as a hailstorm, Dana organizes her family's bills, pays their rent and covers other practicalities that her parents don't seem to recognize as important. While her father, George, follows his next big idea down disappearing trailheads, awaiting paydays that never come. Dana's mother Valerie paints in her studio to the point of ignoring the rest of her life, existing rather vacantly on the outskirts of motherhood. Left on their own, Dana and her older brother Ray, a sensitive soul who excels at everything he tries, dream of leaving home.
It's Connie Plank who names Ruth and Dana as "birthday sisters," insisting they maintain a close-knit relationship for that reason alone, despite their divergent interests. The Planks only vacation each year is a quick visit to the Dickerson home, wherever that might be, and in return the Dickersons visit the Plank family farm stand each summer, around the girls' July birthdays.
Remarkably, it's on one of these farm visits that Edwin Plank takes an interest in Dana Dickerson as an unofficial understudy, sharing his farming know-how built up from six generations, which leads to Dana's burgeoning interest in farming herself, and, ultimately, connects her to Ruth in a way their shared birthday never did.
A tender, compelling read, Maynard has interwoven the girls' stories beautifully. Two heartfelt portrayals of the outsider that will be easily enjoyed - even by readers who aren't - and embraced by book clubs everywhere.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 2, 2012
I really liked this book. I live in the area it is set in which was a first for me. I didn't find it predictable, I might read it again.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 1, 2011
stayed up late to finish the book whay a good read
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted September 2, 2011
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Overview
They were born on the same day, in the same small New Hampshire hospital—but Ruth Plank and Dana Dickerson are different in nearly every way.
Ruth is an artist, a romantic with a rich, passionate, imaginative life—the fifth daughter born to a gentle, caring farmer and his stolid wife. Raised by a pair of capricious drifters, Dana is a scientist and realist whose faith is firmly planted in the natural world. From the 1950s to the present, the lives of the “birthday sisters” ...