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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
The Other Daughter is an emotional story of the overriding power of love and family bonds, compassion and acceptance after secrets come to light that turn Jessica’s life upside down.
An excellent debut novel from Caroline Bishop. The characters are wonderfully depicted, the pace is good and the story flows really well between the dual timelines and narratives. The beautifully-described Swiss setting, along with the mysteries and Jessica’s quest to unravel the truth, made this novel a really compelling read.
I found the story very informative and I certainly feel enlightened about issues that are not well known outside Switzerland. The author has clearly well-researched the historical and political climate of Switzerland in the 1970’s and she has then successfully penned a novel that I would highly recommend.
I am grateful to the publisher, Simon & Schuster UK, via NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
An excellent debut novel from Caroline Bishop. The characters are wonderfully depicted, the pace is good and the story flows really well between the dual timelines and narratives. The beautifully-described Swiss setting, along with the mysteries and Jessica’s quest to unravel the truth, made this novel a really compelling read.
I found the story very informative and I certainly feel enlightened about issues that are not well known outside Switzerland. The author has clearly well-researched the historical and political climate of Switzerland in the 1970’s and she has then successfully penned a novel that I would highly recommend.
I am grateful to the publisher, Simon & Schuster UK, via NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I love learning about times, places, and people I know little about, so this premise caught my attention - it's the first piece of historical fiction I've encountered that is set in Switzerland. It's obvious that the author lives in and knows the place she writes about as she takes us on a thorough tour of the political scene, working conditions, and women's rights movement of 1970s Switzerland.
This is a book with dual narratives, timelines, and locations, which can get messy, but doesn't here - the pacing is right and the flow is never disrupted. In many dual narrative novels, we get a shocking reveal near the end when we learn how our protagonists' stories are connected; here, we get this reveal fairly early on, which enhance the effect. This is a lovely character-driven piece, but as usual with dual narratives, I am more interested in one story line than the other - in this instance, Sylvia's.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for this ARC.
This is a book with dual narratives, timelines, and locations, which can get messy, but doesn't here - the pacing is right and the flow is never disrupted. In many dual narrative novels, we get a shocking reveal near the end when we learn how our protagonists' stories are connected; here, we get this reveal fairly early on, which enhance the effect. This is a lovely character-driven piece, but as usual with dual narratives, I am more interested in one story line than the other - in this instance, Sylvia's.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for this ARC.
This book had a great plot line and good characters. The audio performance was excellent, with a variety of accents.
An intelligent and original read, avoiding the predictable conclusion.
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Title: The Other Daughter
Author: Caroline Bishop
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: January 10 2023
I received a complimentary ARC from Simon & Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted
T H R E E • W O R D S
Engrossing • Complex • Informative
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Jess is at a crossroads in life. In her late thirties, all she has to show for it is a broken marriage and a job teaching a bunch of uninterested kids. But when she discovers a shocking secret about her late mother, Sylvia, Jess begins to question all she’s ever known. Her search for answers leads to a 1970s article about women’s rights in Switzerland that Sylvia wrote when she was a young journalist. But to uncover the real story of what happened all those years ago, Jess will have to go to Switzerland and find someone who knew her mother...
Sylvia’s life is on track. She has a loving fiancé and her dream job as a features writer in a busy London newsroom—if only her editor would give her the chance to write about something important instead of relegating her to fashion, flowers, and celebrities. When Sylvia learns about the growing women’s liberation movement in Switzerland, where women only recently got the right to vote, she knows the story could be her big break. There’s just one wrinkle: she’s pregnant.
Determined to put her career first, Sylvia travels to Switzerland, and as she meets the courageous band of women fighting for their rights, she stumbles across an even bigger scoop, one that would make her male colleagues take her seriously. But telling the story will change her—and her baby’s—life forever.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I was super excited to be gifted a physical ARC of The Other Daughter by British-Canadian author Caroline Bishop, however, it did take me longer than I had anticipated to finally pick it up. It had all of the makings to be an engaging and educative historical fiction, which is exactly my cup of tea.
Told in dual POVs across interwoven timelines, Caroline Bishop transports the reader to Switzerland with rich and vivid landscape description, while providing a thorough history of women's rights and liberation in Switzerland, and exploring themes of feminism, motherhood, and privilege. Each of the timelines is well balanced within the narrative and the pacing reveals pieces of the mystery at a steady pace.
Overall, The Other Daughter is an interesting and eye-opening historical fiction novel that taught me about women's rights in Switzerland, a topic I knew nothing about. It's definitely longer than it needs to be, yet offers a satisfying, if not shocking, ending. I would definitely be interested in exploring more of this author's work in the future.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• women's history
• mother/daughter relationships
• Genevieve Graham
⚠️ CW: pregnancy, abortion, infertility, infidelity, death, death of parent
Author: Caroline Bishop
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: January 10 2023
I received a complimentary ARC from Simon & Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted
T H R E E • W O R D S
Engrossing • Complex • Informative
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Jess is at a crossroads in life. In her late thirties, all she has to show for it is a broken marriage and a job teaching a bunch of uninterested kids. But when she discovers a shocking secret about her late mother, Sylvia, Jess begins to question all she’s ever known. Her search for answers leads to a 1970s article about women’s rights in Switzerland that Sylvia wrote when she was a young journalist. But to uncover the real story of what happened all those years ago, Jess will have to go to Switzerland and find someone who knew her mother...
Sylvia’s life is on track. She has a loving fiancé and her dream job as a features writer in a busy London newsroom—if only her editor would give her the chance to write about something important instead of relegating her to fashion, flowers, and celebrities. When Sylvia learns about the growing women’s liberation movement in Switzerland, where women only recently got the right to vote, she knows the story could be her big break. There’s just one wrinkle: she’s pregnant.
Determined to put her career first, Sylvia travels to Switzerland, and as she meets the courageous band of women fighting for their rights, she stumbles across an even bigger scoop, one that would make her male colleagues take her seriously. But telling the story will change her—and her baby’s—life forever.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I was super excited to be gifted a physical ARC of The Other Daughter by British-Canadian author Caroline Bishop, however, it did take me longer than I had anticipated to finally pick it up. It had all of the makings to be an engaging and educative historical fiction, which is exactly my cup of tea.
Told in dual POVs across interwoven timelines, Caroline Bishop transports the reader to Switzerland with rich and vivid landscape description, while providing a thorough history of women's rights and liberation in Switzerland, and exploring themes of feminism, motherhood, and privilege. Each of the timelines is well balanced within the narrative and the pacing reveals pieces of the mystery at a steady pace.
Overall, The Other Daughter is an interesting and eye-opening historical fiction novel that taught me about women's rights in Switzerland, a topic I knew nothing about. It's definitely longer than it needs to be, yet offers a satisfying, if not shocking, ending. I would definitely be interested in exploring more of this author's work in the future.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• women's history
• mother/daughter relationships
• Genevieve Graham
⚠️ CW: pregnancy, abortion, infertility, infidelity, death, death of parent
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Infertility, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Minor: Infidelity
Wow Caroline Bishop did not disappoint, this is my second book of hers that I have read. The in depth relationship and character builds are there, you feel their pain, frustration and love. The complex mom and daughter relationship is even more so in this story.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It was an easy read. Interesting plot and definitely the mystery about secrets from the past. Each chapter
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I just finished the other daughter by Caroline Bishop
Jess’ life is falling apart, so when the opportunity to go to Switzerland and teach English to 2 small kids for the summer seems like the perfect escape. It doesn’t hurt that her mother was in Switzerland when she was pregnant with Jess almost 40 years ago and Jess has questions. Her mother, Sylvia was there writing about women's rights but something happened while she was there and Jess is going to find out the truth….
This book was told from two points of view. Jess in the current day and her mother Sylvia when she was pregnant. Both points of views were exceptional and I really enjoyed watching Jess figure out what happened when her mother was pregnant. It was quite the emotional rollercoaster for me too. I imagine what it must have been like for everyone involved and how they must have felt and the author did an amazing job bringing that to life. I did shed a few tears so be prepared for that!
I actually enjoyed the parallel timelines and felt the book was really balanced and well constructed. The writing was phenomenal and I cannot wait to read more from this author.
The landscape of Switzerland was written with such richness, I felt like I was really there!! It also covered a lot of interesting topics including women’s rights and what happened to the kids in Switzerland when the authorities took kids from their families and put them with “better families” and they were all used as basically slaves. I had no idea!
This book was brilliantly done and I highly recommend this historical fiction to any fan of the genre
5 stars. Thank you to @Simonschulesterca and to the author @carolinebishopauthor for my copy!!
Cannot tell you how amazing this book was!
Jess’ life is falling apart, so when the opportunity to go to Switzerland and teach English to 2 small kids for the summer seems like the perfect escape. It doesn’t hurt that her mother was in Switzerland when she was pregnant with Jess almost 40 years ago and Jess has questions. Her mother, Sylvia was there writing about women's rights but something happened while she was there and Jess is going to find out the truth….
This book was told from two points of view. Jess in the current day and her mother Sylvia when she was pregnant. Both points of views were exceptional and I really enjoyed watching Jess figure out what happened when her mother was pregnant. It was quite the emotional rollercoaster for me too. I imagine what it must have been like for everyone involved and how they must have felt and the author did an amazing job bringing that to life. I did shed a few tears so be prepared for that!
I actually enjoyed the parallel timelines and felt the book was really balanced and well constructed. The writing was phenomenal and I cannot wait to read more from this author.
The landscape of Switzerland was written with such richness, I felt like I was really there!! It also covered a lot of interesting topics including women’s rights and what happened to the kids in Switzerland when the authorities took kids from their families and put them with “better families” and they were all used as basically slaves. I had no idea!
This book was brilliantly done and I highly recommend this historical fiction to any fan of the genre
5 stars. Thank you to @Simonschulesterca and to the author @carolinebishopauthor for my copy!!
Cannot tell you how amazing this book was!