Lena Donahue hasn’t spoken to her sister, Hallie, in ten years, not since her wedding day when she found her groom, Walter, and her sister in a very intimate embrace. She ran out of the church, all the way to NYC and a completely new life having little to do with her family since. In the meantime Hallie and Walter have married and now have two daughters. When her brother Shane calls her home from New York because her father’s memory is failing and Shane needs her help, she reluctantly returns, hoping to keep interactions with Hallie to a minimum. The siblings come up with an idea to preserve their father’s slowly disappearing memories by putting the timeline of his life, with photographs and stories, into a book. As they pursue the project, certain dates and documents don’t seem to make sense and they discover that their family isn’t quite as they thought.

The author writes about the meaning of home and family in an emotionally moving story about relationships, trust and love. It is an excellent book and I strongly recommend it.

Wow, this book was so good! This is the first book I’ve read by this author but I will go back and read others. This story is centered on Colleen a travel journalist from South Carolina and is living in New York City. She heads home with deal with her dad’s recent Alzheimer's diagnosis. This book is filled with family drama, memories from the past, and long kept secrets. It really focuses on what exactly is home and how we find it. Great read and highly recommended!

Colleen Donohue left her beautiful home town in the Low Country of South Carolina 10 years ago and has never looked back. After witnessing the ultimate betrayal, she moved to New York to pursue travel writing and enjoys an unencumbered life. Colleen has just reached new heights in her career when a call from her brother forces her to return to SC, facing the past and forcing her to contemplate what home really means. In The Favorite Daughter, New York Times best selling author Patti Callahan Henry, takes on the topics of forgiveness, heritage and a family coping with Alzheimer’s disease. As Colleen’s father declines in health, Henry’s novel shines a light on the symptoms, terminology and issues raised in coping with a family member with Alzheimer’s. While Colleen and her siblings, Shane and Hallie, rush to preserve their family history though photos and stories, inconsistencies start to emerge. Their father’s old stories of settling in SC and starting a family give rise to a mystery that just might help heal and old family rift. Though slightly long winded, The Favorite Daughter is informative, relatable and made me think a bit harder about what it takes to forgive.

THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER is the first book I’ve ever read by Patti Callahan Henry. The twists and turns keep coming and I had to know how it was going to end! Every time I thought I knew where this story was going, a few pages later, Patti Callahan Henry threw me for a loop and I knew I was wrong! I’m kicking myself for not reading this wonderful novel sooner even though it practically shredded my heart! Lena Donohue has been planning to marry on her twenty fifth birthday except on her big day, the unthinkable happens and destroys her. Oh my goodness, hold on tight everyone! It is a wild and crazy ride of emotions!

THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER is a quick read and unputdownable! There were quite a few times when reading it that I was holding my breath, waiting for what I surely knew was coming. Lena ran away to New York City after her twenty fifth birthday and ten years later she finds herself back in Watersend, South Carolina. Her brother, Shane has called her home to help with their dad. He has Alzheimer’s and Shane needs to figure out what to do next. They come up with an idea to make a memory book for their dad so he can keep his memories with him. I found myself laughing one second and then tearing up the next. If you are looking for a beautiful story to pull you out of your book slump, you can’t go wrong with THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER. Patti Callahan Henry is now one of my auto buy authors.

The twists and turns in THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER are going to keep you up late into the night trying to figure it out. One minute you believe you know where Lena is going with her life and the next you are sitting there shaking your head, wondering what the heck just happened. I had my ideas, I had it all figured out, or so I thought, and BAM…….wrong again! Once you start reading, trust me, you aren’t going to be able to stop! When everything is finally revealed, well, you won’t believe it! The secrets, holy cow, you won’t believe the secrets that get revealed! That’s all I’m saying about this emotional story.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER. All of the characters are on their own spiritual journey, not just Lena. It is heart warming and filled with so many different emotions. There is so much going on in this story, but Patti Callahan Henry does a wonderful job of weaving all the pieces together. All of the characters will have you feeling sad and then giggling on the same page. More than once I wanted to be there with my new found friends! Once you finish devouring this story, you are going to want to tell everyone you know about this awesome book and then packing your bags for Watersend South Carolina and heading straight to The Lark! That is the family’s Irish pub.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given.

This is a story of family betrayal and forgiveness. Lena left town 10 years ago on her wedding day after seeing her sister and fiance in a passionate embrace at the church. They are married shortly thereafter and Lena never returned to the small South Carolina town she loved. Now her brother has called with an emergency. Alzheimer's is slowly stealing their father's memories, and the three siblings are in a rush to preserve his life in stories and in photographs. It means facing the elephant in the room with her sister and her two nieces. Good characters handle the adversity well. A nice story of family facing a terrible disease and it's effects all. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I loved returning to South Carolina for The Favorite Daughter. Right from the very first chapter, Patti pulled my in, big time. Shocking first chapter sets the tone for the story. Lena's father's illness brings her home (nothing else would), we learn about more than one family secret. The Favorite Daughter is a great book about hurting, healing and moving on for the sake of family. Really, what else matters? I really enjoyed The Favorite Daughter. Even though the cover suggests a summer read, this book can be read anytime of the year!

http://www.seasidebooknook.com/search?q=The+favorite+daughter&x=0&y=0

I love it when I find a new-to-me author that I can no longer live without. Wow! What a talented writer, creating a family, community, and story I couldn’t help but become fully invested in.

I won’t go into the plot—you can read the blurb for that. Instead, I’ll share how this story made me feel. Within these pages, I experienced a mingling of anger, sadness, familiarity, sympathy, surprise, and at times even apathy (with a particular character who made my blood boil) but I mostly felt heartened and even a sense of reverence.

The South Carolina low country, and the charming family pub, The Lark, are wonderful, unforgettable settings, but what carried this story, for me, was the people. It was easy to relate to Colleen (Lena.) She is deeply flawed, but likeable, and I sympathized with the heavy hurt she carried. It was more difficult for me to sympathize with Hallie, and there were times I wanted to shake her. Shane is the consummate brother, kind, responsible, and the family peacekeeper. But my favorite in this book, by far, is their dad, Gavin Donohue. He is the true center of the story (in my opinion.) He is everyone’s dad, friend, and mentor. His zest for life and love is unmatched and is the glue of the family.

The Favorite Daughter clings to themes of family, acceptance, and forgiveness. But perhaps the most important gifts this story offers are the significance of memories and the meaning of home.

Author: Patti Callahan Henry
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 368
First Line (Chapter One): The problem with memories, Colleen Donohue often thought, wasn’t with the ones she couldn’t let go of, but with those that wouldn’t let go of her.
Source: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher. I was under no obligation to post a positive review.
#PattiCallahanHenry
#The Favorite Daughter

I recently read Becoming Mrs Lewis by Patti Callahan (Henry) and I fell in love with that book and was eager to read some of her more contemporary books.

I had been pitched her book, The Bookshop at Water’s End, back in 2017 and passed at the time and now I am so sad that I did because I would have discovered this author long before now!

At any rate, I was thrilled to read this book when it came out and was looking forward to reading some of her contemporary fiction to see how it compared to her historical work. I knew that each book would be vastly different as they are different genres, but she’s an excellent writer and I know that good writing is good writing, and regardless of genre, that’s what stands out in a good book.

Summary

Ten years ago, Lena Donohue experienced a wedding-day betrayal so painful that she fled the small town of Watersend, South Carolina, and reinvented herself in New York City. Though now a freelance travel writer, the one place she rarely goes is home—until she learns of her dad’s failing health.

Returning to Watersend means seeing the sister she has avoided for a decade and the brother who runs the family’s Irish pub and has borne the burden of his sisters’ rift. While Alzheimer’s slowly steals their father’s memories, the siblings rush to preserve his life in stories and in photographs. As his secret past brings Lena’s own childhood into focus, it sends her on a journey to discover the true meaning of home (summary from Goodreads).

Review

Callahan Henry has experience under her belt. She has writing over twenty novels and her confidence as a successful writer shines in this book. The characters themselves are full bodies and developed as well as inviting and personable. And the writing was superb, as I would except from a writer of her caliber.

But what I loved most about this book was the way it made me think. A lot of this book is about loss, forgiveness, and the past. I found myself questioning if I could forgive the betrayal of the sister, or if one can ever truly go home again, and how to make peace with the past. This book focused a lot on memories and how they shift and change with time and I could wholeheartedly relate to that problem. As time goes by you forget lots of things and your mind has a way of shifting memories to justify feeling and this book captured that so well.

While this book is more in the women’s fiction category, I think it would appeal to a wide audience as there was a lot of themes to focus on. The family felt like a real family with real issues which made them so real and I loved the characters and ultimately how the story resolved. This was a book I was stealing little moments here and there to read. I was not disappointed in the least.

Callahan Henry is a talented and strong story teller, if you pick up any of her books I doubt you would be disappointed. This books has complex themes but they will keep you engrossed in the narrative. Don’t miss this wonderful story, you will walk away feeling uplifted and content with the ending.

Book Info and Rating

Kindle Edition, 368 pages
Published June 4th 2019 by Berkley
ASIN B07H735HPT
Free review copy provided by publisher, Berkley Publishing, in partnership with Tall Poppy Bloggers, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.
Rating: 5 stars
Genre: women’s fiction

Last year I reviewed the author’s BECOMING MRS. LEWIS and loved her fictionalized take on Joy Davidman, the woman who married C.S. Lewis. It’s only my second book of Patti’s but her work is adored by my English professor stepdaughter. It’s so clear why!

THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER is written in poetic style, the narrative gripping about Lena, who left South Carolina after being spectacularly betrayed on her wedding day, returning home only now when her father is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She’s forced to face a sister she avoided for a decade and her brother, who’s kept afloat the family’s business, an Irish pub.

The reunited sibs do all they can to record their dad’s memories and while they do, learn of his secret past. Oh my goodness does Patti know how to capture the challenge of family relationships, and the terrible losses caused by memory disorders, in dialogue that rings with the truest truth.

I loved THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER and will be reading all the author’s books. Her next can’t come soon enough!

Pub Date 04 Jun 2019. Available on Amazon.

Thanks to Patti Callahan Henry, Berkley Publishing Group, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#TheFavoriteDaughter #NetGalley

Lena Donohue has only returned to her small hometown in South Carolina a handful of times since her disastrous wedding day, going back there takes her straight back to that day, so when her brother calls her home because their dad is in declining health, she must return and face the truths that she has avoided for years.

Although I have been avoiding books with cheating in them, this book is more a story about family and the resilience of family. Through it all your family will be there wether you like it or not! It was so interesting watching this family confront truths and really trying to rebuild their family piece by piece. I loved how Henry wrote this family, you have sympathy for all and you are really hoping for each to find resolution and happiness.

Characters are one thing in this book, but so was the setting! I loved this small town in South Carolina. I could picture it completely. I grew up in a small southern town and the feeling of everyone knowing everyone else and knowing everything about you and your family is such a feeling that is missing in big cities and it makes everything about this book possible.

I was already a Patti Callahan Henry fan before this book and continue to be so after!

The people we most love do become a physical part of us, ingrained in our synapses, in the pathways where memories are created. Meghan O’Rourke, The Long Goodbye.. (I loved this)

This was such a good book. There are not enough words to express exactly how much I loved this story. It was magical in so many ways. Poetic in so many ways. The family dynamics. Family strengths and weaknesses. Love, laughter and anger. This was one of those books you won’t want to put down until you read the very last word. It will make you cry some very ugly tears in so many places too. But it’s so good that you won’t care.

Three siblings dealing with their dad having such an ugly disease, Alzheimer’s. It’s such an awful thing to think about... losing your memories. This family has been through a lot and this is the one thing that brings them all together for the ride of your life. You will get a chuckle or two along the way but overall you will want to slap a couple of faces, hug a few necks and console these three siblings. They certainly have their faults. They have many ups and downs. But it appears almost anything can be forgiven. Almost.

Wonderful characters. Descriptions that will make you feel you are there and feelings deep in your soul. This author captured this book perfectly. She did a wonderful job.

This book touched my heart in ways that a book has not done in a while. I’ve read some wonderful books but this one is in a league of it’s own. A must read for anyone that loves family dramas. Coming to terms with things and finding the way back home. The most important of all is, finding the way back home. Two things in this book that truly popped out for me was near the ending: I believe home is a land that calls for you, a place that shelters. It’s a family with all the complications that a family can be.
Home is more than a place, it’s a love story....

I have to thank #NetGalley, #Berkeley Publishing for the copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is definitely a 5 star book. I so highly recommend this one.

I read The Favorite Daughter in a day. The characters and the story are so compelling that it was difficult to put down. It opens on Colleen (Lena) Donohue getting ready for her wedding. She goes searching for her younger sister, Hallie, and finds her locked in an embrace with the groom - Wyatt. Colleen flees her family home at Watersend, South Carolina to start an entirely new life in New York. Colleen becomes a well-respected travel writer, travelling all over the world and writing about her experiences. This allows her to ignore the ache that comes from missing her family, and keeps her from forming lasting attachments. The story picks up when the youngest siblling, Shane, calls from Watersend to summon Colleen home - her father has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and is fading fast. Colleen must quickly face her issues with her sister and her husband - Wyatt so she can help get her father settled before the disease progresses to far. Set against the backdrop of Low Country, South Carolina and the Irish pub her father owns and operates, this is a story of family and memories and learning to make amends.

Patti Callahan Henry creates real characters in real situations. You could almost smell the river and the seafood and hear the birds crying, while mopping up tears of your own. It was a good, heartwarming story that I enjoyed very much!

Thirty-five year old Colleen “Lena” is living the single live in NYC. She is a popular free-lance writer for travel magazines. She avoids going to visit in her hometown of Watersend, South Carolina after what happened ten year earlier at her wedding. On her wedding day, she caught her fiancée kissing her younger sister, Hallie. She took off in her car and never looked back. She cannot forgive Hallie for what she did. Hallie ended up marrying Wade and they have two daughters. Colleen has only returned to SC for her mom’s funeral and a few other times.

Colleen gets a call from her younger brother, Shane. He tells her that their father has been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He seems to be declining quickly. Shane asks her to come home so they can make decisions about their father. They also want to plan a party to honor their dad and make timeline of his life. Colleen knows she has to return home, but can she ever forgive Hallie?

The Favorite Daughter is the latest book by Patti Callahan Henry. She is becoming one of my favorite southern authors. I first heard of her a few years ago when she spoke at the Louisiana Book Festival and bought one of her books. I met her again last summer at ALA Conference in NOLA and received a copy of her book “Becoming Mrs. Lewis”. I thought it was neat the CS Lewis was quoted a few times in The Favorite Daughter.

The Favorite Daughter is a story of family, secrets, forgiveness, and of course deals with Alzheimer’s. A few of her characters from past novels make an appearance. It is a good summer “beach read”. Four stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for the free advanced copy.

3.5/5 stars

This is a well-written, sweet book about coming home--and defining what "home" even means in the first place. I loved the characters in this book, especially Colleen/Lena, the main character. Even though I've never been through the things she has (discovering my fiance is a cheater on my wedding day), I really understood to my core her searching and her loss, and how it might feel to be looking for one's place in the world.

Things I loved: The writing style was great, I got a real the real sense of the South and the characters and community which were vibrant and interesting. I adored Gavin, the father who is succumbing to Alzheimer's. I liked the mystery of Lena's birth and how it slowly made its way to the surface. I thought Lena's brother Shane was a great character and I really wanted to know more about him.

Things I didn't love: I got a little bored with the plot in about the middle third of the book. I felt like "Yup, she's home. Yup, she hasn't forgiven her sister. Yup, her sister is being a bit of a jerk about it all. Let's get on with it." Then, it felt like all of a sudden, a whole bunch of stuff happened, and I wasn't sure I was quite ready for the shift in pace. But that could just be me. I don't know that other people would have trouble with the pacing. I also felt like the budding romance between Lena and her love interest was a bit boring and so therefore fell kind of flat. I thought Lena's sister was pretty much selfish to the core, so it was hard to believe that Lena loved and missed her so much.

Overall, it was a pretty good read, and I'll definitely read others by this author. Thank you so much to Berkley for sharing the eARC with me!

I knew I was going to love this book because I love Patti's writing so much. She made me fall in love with the main character Colleen during the Prologue. I love sibling relationship books and Patti did it brilliantly!! I read and listened to this book and I highly recommend the audio too!!

This is a beautifully written story that will tug at your heartstrings and suck you right into the story. Once I started reading this I couldn’t put it down. I loved the characters in the story and could really feel a connection to Lena. The story shows the power of memory and the effect it has on our families. Though the story is a little slow at points it was well written and moving. This is a book that lovers of any genre will enjoy.

I love stories about family,, love, forgiveness and Patti Callahan Henry tells a great story. that totally engaged me from page one.

I chose to read The Favorite Sister because of the author. Patti Callahan Henry 's books are well suited to my lazy summertime reading list. The Favorite Sister has a familiar premise; sisters torn apart by a man, brought together by a family dilemma. I would categorize it as a gentle read. I was entertained by the glimpses into family dynamics, forgiveness, and yes, romance. The characters are complex, not always likable, and compelling. The story itself is solid, the ending satisfactory - everything I look for while choosing a poolside book.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

The Favorite Daughter is a classic family drama. Author Patti Callahan Henry has written a touching and emotional story of estranged sisters, family secrets, and second-chances.

The writing is lovely and evocative. The plot is well paced, and along every single step, readers’ hearts will be tugged. The “big reveal” is easily surmised—at least in part—but that didn’t diminish the journey. That journey is Colleen’s. With the backdrop of her beloved father’s rapid decline to Alzheimer’s disease, Colleen is forced to face her sister’s hateful betrayal, her family’s acceptance of her sister and fiancé after that betrayal, as well as her mother’ luke-warm parenting.

Usually a review will effusively described loved characters. However, I was most impacted by a character I didn’t like. In fact, I detested Colleen’s sister Hallie, the family’s acceptance of her betrayal, and their eventual acceptance of her husband (Colleen’s former fiancé). It is just beyond wrong! I never got to the point where I felt any acceptance, understanding or forgiveness for Hallie’s choices or her consequences. She whined, complained, and acted hurt when she was the root of the problem. Hallie, grown-up and with a daughters of her own, perpetually acts like the stereotypical younger sister. At every opportunity, Hallie’s choices attempt to erase Colleen—from her ultimate betrayal to her demands about the memory book the siblings are making for their father.

While Colleen’s festering anger might have hurt her, she had every right to want to avoid a sister who systematically stole her fiancé. Who wouldn’t feel justified in cutting <i>that</i> out of their life?
Colleen’s choice in career (travel writer), is used as a euphemism for her continued running from her “problem”. Clearly it is part of the author’s message about Colleen’s choices in dealing with the hand she was dealt. The author’s message of forgiveness was heavy handed; and post epiphany, Colleen is a bit preachy about what she learned/accepted. Seriously, I can’t imagine anyone gathering with the family and welcoming her ex-fiancé as a now-brother-in-law at every holiday gathering.

In Colleen’s final journey to her true home, she finally finds the unconditional, unrestrained love that she never got from the mother who raised her. She finally knows and accepts the reality of her beginning, and upon her return to her childhood home, she can now accept a new romantic love and reconciliation.

“I believe home is a land that calls for you, a place that shelters. It’s a family with all the complications that a family can be.” –Colleen

The Favorite Daughter will tug at your heartstrings…especially if you have siblings. You’ll recall shared moments and feelings of the other being the favorite. Regardless of my rant about the sisters’ estrangement, I truly enjoyed this book. When you read it, don’t skip the chapter heading quotes, and savor Gavin Donohue’s Irish sayings. They’re gems.

4.5 - 5 stars

This is a lovely book, beautifully written; it's a pleasure to read even the less happy parts because the writing is so engaging. The themes of memory and memories, forgiveness, family and journeys are wonderfully developed in the multi-layered plot. I thought the various quotations on memory which open the chapters were well-chosen and added a nice element. The little mystery surrounding discrepancies between what Colleen had been told about her family's past versus what she finds out by talking to people or looking at dates on photographs is very satisfying. The last few chapters are particularly lovely; Colleen's trip to her ancestral homeland makes me feel nostalgic for a place I've (sadly) never visited! All in all, I really enjoyed this book. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book.