"Sarah's Daughter" by Ruth Bass

I enjoyed Sarah’s Daughter by Ruth Bass more than I thought I would.  It’s about a grieving family in the 1880’s and how the husband and his three children cope with the death of Sarah, the wife and mother.  Rose, the oldest daughter, is 14 and becomes overwhelmed with taking on all that the mother did while still going to school.  The father turns to alcohol to drown his troubles.

Here is a quote I thought was very good:

Sarah always said when the problem was very big, you just started at the very beginning and went along a bit at a time, the way you read a new book.

"Read only the first line," she'd say, "and understand that.  Don't go skimming through or try to see the end before you have absorbed all the lines between.  Problems are like books.  You work your way through them, and sometimes the ending is quite a surprise."

I liked the humor in this book and found the historical look at daily living in the 1800s very interesting.  The main character is likeable and well developed.  The author told most of the story from Rose’s point of view, even sharing her funny thoughts with the reader.  It is very well written and character driven.  This novel is about friendship, dysfunctional families, grief, suicide, dreams and some romance.  I recommend it to anyone who likes books teens or historical fiction.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.