Things I Want My Daughters to Know

by Elizabeth Noble

How do you cope in a world without your mother?

When Barbara realizes time is running out, she writes letters to her four daughters, aware they'll be facing the trials and triumphs of life without her at their side. But how can she leave them when they still have so much growing up to do?

Take Lisa, in her mid-thirties but incapable of making a commitment; or Jennifer, trapped in a stale marriage and buttoned up so tight she could burst. While twentysomething Amanda is the traveler, always distanced from the rest of the family. And Hannah. A teenage girl on the verge of womanhood, about to be parted from the mother she adores.

But by drawing on the wisdom in Barbara's letters, the girls might just find a way to cope with her loss. And in coming to terms with their bereavement, can they also set themselves free to enjoy life with all the passion and love each deserves?

The bestselling Elizabeth Noble returns with a tale of families, friends ... and the glorious, endless possibilities of life.

• ISBN10: 006112219X
• ISBN13: 9780061122194
• Publish Date: 1 April 2008 (first published 7 February 2008)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

Things I Want My Daughters To Know is Elizabeth Noble’s fourth novel. It tells the story of a mother (Barbara) who has to say goodbye to those she loves most in the world. She does this via letters expressing her hopes and fears for each daughters as well as a journal. Things I Want My Daughters To Know is quite like Cecelia Ahern’s PS I Love You and Lola Jaye’s By The Time You Read This in the way that we never get to meet the people writing the letters. I enjoyed the previous two I read and also loved this one.

I loved how the writing style wasn’t divided up into chapters but was divided up between the months and the thoughts of each person (Hannah, Amanda, Lisa, Jennifer & Mark) as well as having the odd journal entry from Barbara. It was a very clever way of writing the novel and worked really well.

I thought Elizabeth Noble wrote each character very well and loved how they were all so different from each other. Lisa, the eldest who is terrified of commitment; unhappily married Jennifer; Amanda the traveller; and Hannah a teenager who faces adulthood without her mother.

I felt sympathetic to all four sisters and absolutely loved the different obstacles each sister had to face. My favourite of the sisters had to be Amanda, I loved her flighty nature and yet, when love came calling… I so hoped Jennifer and Amanda would overcome their relationship worries. Hannah was also great and had her own problems to overcome, too.

I thought Mark’s, Barbara’s husband and Hannah’s dad, perspective gave us a different angle on grief and the struggles he faced on how to move on and whether or not it was OK to move on.

I enjoyed reading the letters to each girl – and found a few shocking – and loved the journal entries. While we never met Barbara it did feel like we knew her – through the journal entries and the letters as well as what we learnt from the girls’ and Mark’s point of view – and could also sympathise with how she was finding knowing she was going to die as well as how it impacted on the rest of the family.

There were a few scenes in the book that really lifted the lid on grief and keeping things bottled up in particular a scene where Jennifer is drinking with Mark and she really lets go of herself and lets out some shocking revelations.

Eilizabeth Noble has taken a really difficult subject and made it into a fabulous novel. Light-hearted yet serious and very moving. A lot of books say they are tear-jerkers but this one is actually one that is a tear-jerker! A definite must-read!

Rating: 5/5