Customer Reviews

My Mother's Daughter

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'll never forget the story of Martha Claire and her sister Justine. This book is my absolute favorite from Judith Henry Wall.

Written to perfection, MY MOTHER'S DAUGHTER takes you into the heart of a family saga where blood ties are given the ultimate test. The characters come alive, engaging you emotionally until the last page is turned.

Most authors are hard-pressed to create a story with realistic characters and plots, but Judith Henry Wall makes you feel and understand the characters in the best way! Highly recommended!

Judith Henry Wall tells a spell-binding story of three generations of Texas women. The middle generation comes of age during WWII and illustrates the changing times. One sister, Martha Claire, dreams of a happy home life and having babies as she waits for her soldier/husband to return from Europe. Meanwhile, her beloved and career-minded sister Justine joins the WACS and sees first-hand the horrors of war. The free-spirited Justine returns home unwed and pregnant and gives birth to Iris. Martha Claire and her husband adopt Cissy and Buddy, orphan siblings, and they all live together in their happy, family home until a horrible secret shatters their world and drives them painfully apart. The younger generation, devastated by what has happened to their once-loving family, struggles to learn the secret. Only Cissy does and is able to bring some degree of healing to her destroyed family through her own troubles. You will never forget these mothers and daughters and will delight in their joys and cry over their heartbreaks.

This is the first novel I've ever read by this author, but I now intend to read all her work. She is a master story-teller.

What a wonderful story spanning several decades! I found myself unable to put it down until I found out how the lives of all involved turned out. Although it was depressing at times because I was so caught up in the lives of the characters, I enjoyed the entirety of the book.

I've been reading quite a bit lately and this is the one book this year that has really made me think that there was something underneath just the story - which is this: Each and every choice you make in life, can not only change the course of your own life, but the lives of those around you quite profoundly.

In this book, it only begins with Justine choosing to join the WAC during WWII and Martha Claire choosing to raise a family in her hometown with her high school sweetheart.

Those seemingly separate choices intertwine to affect all that join their family subsequently in ways they never imagined.

I love this book and will surely read it again someday. I rated it 4 stars, because of the sadness I felt for some of the characters at times. Ironically, for that, it should be rated 5 stars.

Once I started reading this book I didn't want to stop. Justine and Martha Claire seemed to be people I could actually know and care about. Martha Claire nursed a grudge for so many years, which resulted in the alienation of her family. I felt sorrier for her than any other character. She missed so much. Her husband, Grayson, was almost too saintly to be believed. I can't say I laughed much but I did cry and I was pleased with the way the story ended. I am definitely going to read more of Judith Henry Wall's books!

This is a fabulous story of a family growing old together. It includes all of the family secrets, all of the rough times, all of the good times, and a growing hatred between two sisters that will touch your heart. There is treachery of the worst kind, and love of the best kind. There is a kind father, a bitter mother, confused children, and an ending that will leave you very glad you invested your time in reading this book. Martha Claire is a character you will love and adore, and then resent, and finally despise, a trick I have yet to see any other author pull off so beautifully. The children will touch your heart, and a man named Grayson is one you will not soon forget. READ THIS BOOK!

I was drawn to the story of two sisters in Columbus, Texas....beginning as the second world war winds down to its end. Justine Mayfield, the free spirited sister, hell-bent on getting away from the confines of small town life. Martha Claire, waiting for her husband to come home and for the two of them to embark on the life they had always talked about, nestled in Columbus, surrounded by children. Life does not always bring what you hope for. The two sisters are forced to deal with the realities. Each sister on her chosen path, facing the many twists and turns those paths bring. Life brings hurt and loss and betrayal and heartbreak along with the joys and love and accomplishment. This book captures life in Columbus....I visited the town many times as a child, climbing the steps of the gingerbread trimmed house of my Aunt Daisy Lee. In my mind's eye, I could see the Mayfield house, hear the stories of how the original wrought iron fence had been donated to the scrap metal drive for the war effort. The characters are true to life, almost too heartbreakingly so. The book captures the feel of small town Texas, the urge some have to break free , the drive others have to remain forever in its embrace. None of the choices come without a cost...My Mother's Daughter is a wonderful tale of those choices and the price paid, and the redemptive power of love and forgiveness.

This novel is set in a small town in Texas and begins when Martha Claire is hastily wed on the eve of her husband, Grayson's, departure for World War II. Her sister, Justine, far more adventurous than Martha Claire, also heads off to war to join the WACS. Grayson returns years later a changed man, and Justine returns pregnant and unwed. In order to preserve the family's reputation, a dead spouse is invented for Justine, and after the child, Iris, is born, she is turned over to Martha Claire and Grayson to raise while Justine pursues a glamorous career in photography. Since Martha Claire and Grayson are childless, Iris is as beloved as their own daughter would be. Several years later, they adopt two other children, Cissy and Buddy and for some time their family seems complete.

Martha Claire eventually learns who fathered Iris, and the news devastates their home life. She becomes bitter and resentful, drives Grayson away and her unhappiness infects everyone around her. Cissy becomes obsessed with knowing the secrets of her real parents and trying to unravel the mysteries that caused the deterioration of their happy home.

Happiness, pain, bitterness and forgiveness are woven throughout this novel into an enthralling combination that will keep you turning the pages to learn why the characters are motivated to act as they do, and to discover how they can rebuild their lives. The characters are finely drawn, real people whose joy and misery become your own through the masterful storytelling of Judith Henry Wall.

Martha Claire has waited patiently for her husband Grayson to return from the European front so they can settle into married life in her hometown of Columbus, Texas. Unlike her sister Justine who worked overseas on the war effort and always eagerly wanted to leave their small town for the big city. Grayson is expected to help his family run their dry goods store and make a life with his wife although in his heart he wants to be a career military man seeing the world.

Justine returns home pregnant, but determined to become a famous and respected photographer. Martha Claire raises her sibling's daughter Iris as if the lass were hers. Martha Claire and Grayson also adopt orphans, Cissy and Buddy, making their family complete. Martha Claire is contented until she uncovers the shocking news that Grayson and Justine share. The devastating secret causes a rift and turns a loving family dysfunctional.

MY MOTHER'S DAUGHTER is an exciting, fulfilling relationship drama that spans four decades of American life. The characters are well developed and multi-dimensional and feel like the neighbors next door. Readers are fully drawn into their lives and are able to feel and understand the choices and paths chosen. Judith Henry Wall is a brilliant storyteller who will appeal to fans of Delinsky and Vale Allen.

Harriet Klausner

Judith Henry Wall's novel, "My Mother's Daughter," is the poignant story of two sisters, Justine and Martha Claire Mayfield, who live in a small Texas town. After Justine goes off to serve in World War II, she comes back a changed woman, and the entire Mayfield family undergoes a series of shocks which alter their lives forever. The book is a little melodramatic at times, and it has some unfortunate soap opera elements. However, Wall's book has strong redeeming features. She describes the Texas town of Columbus lovingly and in great detail. Wall has a deft touch with dialogue and the narrative flows smoothly throughout the book, as the author describes the joys and the tragedies in the lives of the sisters and their loved ones. I was drawn into the story of Justine, Marie Claire and their children, and I found Wall's old-fashioned storytelling effective and moving. She shows how fallible human beings make serious mistakes and hurt themselves and the people whom they love the most. Above all, this book shows how the nuclear family is the most bloody battleground of all. The family can be a source of great happiness or of great pain. Wall makes the reader care about her characters and sympathize with their anguish. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy generational stories.

Once again Ms. Wall has written a very moving and sensitive book. The one aspect of her books that I have always enjoyed is the way she makes the characters come to life. The way this book deals with how families hurt one another and hold grudges for endless times is so true and unfortunately happens too often with families today. A very good read.