Things I Want My Daughters to Know

A lot of British lingo...

This is a good book, but take note that the author is British, this is set in England and unless you are extremely familiar with with British terminology, slang, products, etc. you will not 'get' a lot of the humor & won't be able to relate to things she writes about.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Laughter Through Tears

I picked this book after I was diagnosed with a heart problem. My daughter is 12 yrs old and I thought about the things I would want to teach her as she grows but I may not be around. This book is not a reference book by any means but it helped me to write down things that I wanted her to know in the future. I cried, laughed, cried and then laughed some more. The book was a little hard to follow at first because it's set in England with English characters. If you don't know the lingo and slang used across the pond it makes understanding some what difficult.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Heart warming book

I believe this is Elizabeth's best novel. The diary and letters left by the mother for her daughters are wonderful. There are messages all mothers and daughters could learn from. It was heart warming as to how the book ended with all the sisters finally understanding each other and how they all had different relationships with their mother and step-father.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Fabulous!

When an author "grabs me" within the first chapter, I consider the book a good read. This was a GREAT read. Couldn't put it down. Written from a Mother's heart. I highly recommend it.

I recommended

This is a great read, it has everything a girl wants in a book!

What a great book!

It was funny, sad, and realistic. I would diffiently recommend this book

Loved it!!

I went in half-heartedly, but was pleasantly surprised and deeply moved. Have 4 of my own (2girls/2boys) and I understood the book. I was between laughing and tears at the same time throughout the whole book :D... highly recommend.

wonderful

i loved this! can't wait to read hrer other books. i am buying aa copy of thid in print for each of my 4 daughters! they need to read this.

Sweet book

I really enjoyed this book. I adored the characters. It was a very sweet story. I would recommend it.

Highly Recommended

What a great book! I was afraid it might be rather morbid but it wasn't. It was funny in places and brings a tear to your eye in other parts. There was a lot of truth in it. It leaves you with some things to think about. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Painfully hard to get through.

Typically, I read a book in a day or two... this one took me a week. I had to make myself finish it, even though I didn't enjoy it at all. The story line was a good idea, but I couldn't connect with the characters, or even seem to like them. They all seemed to thrive on drama, rather then fix their relationships and continue life without their mom. There also was not a lot of dialougue through the story, more of just the narartor talking. I would have enjoyed it more if their Mom's letter were tied in more. It would go 70-100 pages without seeing one of these letters. Overall, the book won't be making it on my permanent bookshelf.

Touching Story

The characters in this novel are harshly realistic. The author does a good job of creating likeable characters that all have flaws that they're working through or dealing with. While it's an emotionally heavy read you come through the story finding each character has evolved and improved in some way. For such a sad plot you leave feeling good about the story and the characters in it.

Kleenex Needed

I read this book and could not put it down. Even though it is sad, I absolutely loved the book. Being the mother of two daughters myself, I could easily place myself in the mother's shoes. I love this author and passed the book onto both, my sister and my mother.

Touching and funny...

4 girls work out their problems with life and eachother after the death of their mother; it was more about the girls and less about the mom than I expected. There is a lot of back and forth between characters- each girl had interesting things going on but I was sometimes confused about who we were talking about. It didn't go as deep as it could have, but I found it to be a light, enjoyable, easy read with a happy conclusion for all.

Amazing

LOVED this book. Starts off a little slow but if you stick with it you wont be able to put it down. I shared this book with my Mother after I read it and she calls me daily to tell me how much she loves it!

Would Highly Recommend This Book

I was completely immersed in this book from the time that I picked it up. I enjoyed each of the characters and felt a connection with the mother. Great read.

Good Book!

I really enjoyed reading this book it was an easy read and very interesting i would recomended any daughter or mother to read this book

Touching

Sad, yet hopeful and romantic. You can just watch & read as each daughter faces her own challenges, as well as their father. Such a great book for people that love romance!

Bad choice

I probably should not have read this book, but did so on the basis of reviews. The novel seems to go nowhere, but covers the same territory over and over. Maybe I live in another world from the characters, but no group of people I know talks endlessly about relationships--thank heavens. The characters seem tediously one dimensional. All I find out about the mother is that she loved being a mother, a shop owner and her second husband.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

contemporary fans will appreciate this character study

Barbara Forbes knows she will die soon from cancer. She tells her second husband and her four adult daughters how she wants them to attend her funeral none are to weep as they have shared a great life with each other and none are to dress in graveyard black as they were, are, and will continue to be a colorful family.--------- Barbara leaves behind four letters one to each of her daughters offering wisdom from the soon to be dearly departed. Over the next year after she is buried each opens their late mom¿s last words of wisdom. Barbara encourages her oldest Lisa to allow someone to get close to her Andy would like to be that someone. To Jennifer she advises to reach out to your husband and stop worrying about fertility and offspring as the means to save her marriage. To Amanda she says to stop running away from the truth especially that her father was neither of her mother¿s husbands. To her youngest teenager Hannah she says rebellion is okay as long as it harms no one including herself, but she should take her time growing up as she has a precious life ahead of her.--------- This concept of having a deceased provide words of wisdom has been done many times before, but Elizabeth Noble keeps it fresh avoiding cliché adages by focusing on the recipients although Barbra¿s diary and letters are well written. Each of her children had a different relationship with their mom something wise Barbara recognized and encourages them accordingly she knew her children. Although the foursome heed their late mom¿s guidance too easily leading to nirvana, contemporary fans will appreciate this character study of four sisters, the men in their lives, and their mother still there for them though she passed away.------------ Harriet Klausner