(Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest feedback)

Let me first give the super-quick summary: I loved everything about this book. Perfection.

This is the story of Walter Gray, famed puppeteer, and his 3 daughters. There's his oldest, Jane, who didn't grow up lavished with the riches of her father and harbors resentment to this day. Rosie, the daughter born out of wedlock after her father's affair, who struggles with her weight and feeling accepted. Cora, the youngest, followed in her father's footsteps into his company and grew up in luxury.

As their father is suffering from dementia and slowly dying, he mentions he actually has a fourth daughter. As this news settles in and the sisters learn the requirements set forth for them in their father's will, we are along for the ride on all the twists and turns coming from all of it.

This book was just perfect. Between stories from the past and present, we get to delve so deep into each woman and the reasons for their strengths and their lingering struggles. We also see Walter's journey through his simple beginnings as a puppeteer, through his years of major fame, and how this all affected his daughters and their three mothers. And some hints about this supposed fourth daughter.

I also loved that we got to really be a part of Walter's passion for puppetry, to learn about his characters and shows, and I honestly learned a heck of a lot about puppets, marionettes, etc. How they work, how they're designed, and so on. Something I certainly never sought out on my own but found very interesting.

And the narrator of this audiobook was wonderful. She truly succeeded in embodying every character perfectly.

All the stars. 5, 10, 15, 20. Whatever arbitrary rating system there is, I give them all

This book tells the story of the 3 daughters of a famous puppeteer. All the girls were raised very differently and now have their own concerns and goals. Their father is suffering from dementia and tells them he has a fourth daughter. Is it true? Is it a figment of his dementia? As the daughters work to find the truth and deal with their difficult relationships with their father. The girls are also dealing with some strange conditions they each must meet in his will, pushing them outside their comfort zones. Overall, I really enjoyed this listen and the complicated tale of families.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for access to the audiobook of The Puppeteer's Daughters by Heather Newton in exchange for an honest review.

CW: fatphobia, diet culture, weight loss surgery, medical content, death of a parent, grief, watch for growing list on StoryGraph.

I had to DNF this book at 22%. In hindsight, I'm not even really sure why I requested access to this book in the first place. Clowns, puppets, and dolls have always freaked me out, and this was not meant to be a horror story (not that I would have sought it out even if it was). This was clearly meant to be a literary fiction, and I'm sure that it is beautiful and will find it's appropriate audience. Unfortunately, I went into this book blind and did not check trigger warnings. In addition to not enjoying/not feeling engaged with the portion of the book that I did listen to, there is a MAJOR content warning for fatphobia and weight loss culture. One of the characters in this book describes themselves as midsize and has been recommended for weight loss surgery. When she goes in for her first appointment, the surgeon tells her that she must lose 40 pounds before the surgery to "show that she is committed". If you haven't unpacked your internalized fatphobia and that doesn't make you mad, let me explain. It is completely inappropriate to recommend weight loss to a person who has otherwise normal health. It is mentally and physically detrimental to force a body to conform to an unnatural state that is not sustainable or healthy. It is poor practice and a lazy prescription. I couldn't read on after listening to half the scene.

Family is the best and worst thing that can happen to people. It can light up your life and make it all worth living or break your heart with regret and pain...For the Gray sisters Jane, Rosie, and Cora growing up with different mothers and a father at 3 different points in his life/career it was bumpy road to navigate. Now as their father begins to decline with dementia, they learn that they are not the only Gray sisters, they have a secret sister. The girls are shocked and determined to find this lost sister. Jane, the oldest, worries about having to take on more family responsibility. Rosie, the middle daughter, longs to find a connection with another sister to make her feel like less of an outcast. Cora, the baby, wants to preserve her father's legacy, that she has taken on for herself. After learning the secret of the 4th sister, they find their father has also added a codicil to his will, challenging the sisters to tasks to make them see themselves as he wants them to be. During the hunt for their long lost sisters, they not only discover new secrets as sisters, but discover a father they had long forgotten. I enjoyed the relationships intertwined in this story and the questions and answers that made this family whole.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This was a unique little family drama with some interesting characters! It was fun to see each sister through the other sisters eyes, and get to know each one individually. The narrator was a good fit for this as well!

Quotes I loved: "That is the way of umbrellas, they are always where you are not."
"He had tremors in his hands now, a puppeteer's nightmare."
"At some point we all have to appreciate what our parents DID give us and stop resenting what they couldn't."

It was a sweet story about family drama amongst a father, his daughters and his puppets.

The story was interesting throughout. Each of the daughters: Cora, Jane and Rosie were relatable in their own ways. Cora wanted to hold on to her father's legacy and carry it on and was close with her father. Jane was a more logical but bitter, resenting Cora a bit and always feeling "less than" in the family and plus she has her own relationship issues with her ex-husband Pete. Rosie is a 1/2 sister to the other girls and has been in a constant struggle with body image, there is a scene where Rosie's daughter tells her something that devastates her, which made me really sad for her.

I really liked how it ended though, it was sort of open-ended but not in an unsatisfying way.

This is a book that I could totally see being turned into a movie and have an all-star cast.

I also really enjoyed the audio narrator.

The Puppeteer's Daughters by Heather Newton was about the famous Puppeteer Walter Gray who is declining in health. He has 3 grown daughters all having different mothers. The story goes into each daughters' personality and their relationship with their father. Also at his birthday party, he tells them there is a fourth daughter. Who is the fourth daughter?
I loved this story it was very interesting to dip into the world of puppeteering and I loved getting to know each daughter. I rate this book 5 stars.
Thank you, Dreamworks for this gifted audiobook.

The publishing date is 7/26/2022

This was an absolutely lovely and inventive story, about the magic of family and storytelling and love. I thought the narration was brilliant and suited the story perfectly.

I wasn't familiar with Heather Newton prior to this, but I will definitely look her up again. Her characterizations were magnificent - the perfect amount of detail, foibles, and believability were blended together to create fully three-dimensional characters who I couldn't help but root for, even when they were not my favorites or made choices that made me cringe. I really loved the presentation of family dynamics, as well as the business story and underlying mystery about the missing sister. I thought the resolution to that was handled extremely well and found it to be both plausible and surprising.

This was a lovely story and I will definitely be looking for more from Newton.

The Puppeteer’s Daughter by Heather Newton was a very moving family drama that explored the art of puppetry. It was about the lives of three half sisters, Jane, Rosie and Cora. They all shared the same father, Walter Gray, a famous and successful puppeteer but all had different mothers. As the story begins, all three daughters have come together to celebrate their father’s eightieth birthday. Walter Gray resided in an assisted living facility since he was showing signs of advanced dementia. During the celebration, Walter was thankful to have his daughters surrounding him but he wanted to know where his other daughter was. According to Walter, one daughter was missing. Jane, Rosie and Cora were shocked by their father’s admission. It forced them to put their differences aside and come together to find the sister they never knew. Their father, although not the most attentive or involved father in their childhoods, had become a very wealthy man as a result of his career as a puppeteer. The three half sisters discovered their father’s Will while they tried to find clues about the fourth daughter their father had mentioned. While reading their father’s will, the sisters discovered that their father had added stipulations for each one of them to accomplish before they could be granted the designated money he was leaving for them. During their search for their long lost sister, the art of puppetry was explored. The history of how puppetry went from its dependency on strings to hand held manipulation was explored. While following Walter Gray’s career, the childhoods of the three half sisters were portrayed and fairytales that resembled some aspect of the sisters’ lives were also sprinkled in. Through all of this, the half sisters tried to repair their relationships with each other and their father.

The Puppeteer’s Daughter by Heather Newton had a magical realism element to it. The themes of love, family, sisterly bonding and competition, devotion, forgiveness, shock, betrayal, growth, and a multitude of struggles presented themselves within the pages of The Puppeteer’s Daughters. I really enjoyed learning about puppetry and some of its history. My favorite character was Rosie since her story was given more substance and details than the other characters. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook of The Puppeteer’s Daughter. It was well narrated by Lauren Ezzo. I highly recommend this audiobook.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media LLC for allowing me to listen to this advanced copy of the audiobook of The Puppeteer’s Daughter through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was really bored by this story and didn't feel any connection to the characters or the plot. The narrator was difficult to listen to.

#thePuppeteersDaughters by Heather Newton is my most recently read #arc from @dreamscape_media - thanks for the audiobook! This story was part family drama, part puppeteer magic, part fairytale. I loved how the puppeteer's fairytales and puppet personalities came into the story and interwove as the narrator reads some bits of their family story as a fairytale. This also gives some commentary on how the art form of marionettes gave way to hand held puppets such as the muppets, much to the dismay of the puppeteers who like the fictional puppeteer of the story Walter Grey, made their puppets by hand infusing their art and imagination into every part of their puppet, from creating them to creating their personalities and schtick. Anyone who enjoys a family drama of sisters, finding lost family, aging parent scenarios, will find this story enchanted by the fairydust sprinkled throughout it, giving this a truly unique and special story. The cover of this book is so gorgeous. I hope you will invest in this story for your own shelves, as it brought a bit of the magic of showbiz and fairytales into the everyday world of complicated and fractured family life!

The Puppeteer's Daughter by Heather Newton is a story about love, family, sisterly bonds and the dynamic between half sisters Jane, Rosie, and Cora.

Walter Gray is a famous puppeteer with a successful career. Now, at his 80th birthday party, surrounded by his three daughters, he feels that there is still something (or someone) missing, a fourth daughter.

Shocked by this news, Jane, Rosie and Cora band together to find their long lost sister. This hunt brings up emotions and flashbacks from the girls' lives. Even though they all have the same father, their upbringing is completely different. Will finding this daughter be something that brings these sisters together, or the event that tears them apart?

Thoughts:
-A quick read that I finished in two settings because I could not put it down.
-Love stories about sisters and their connections and complications.
-Loved the puppeteer aspects that were in the novel.
-The narrator, Lauren Ezzo, did a fantastic job brining the story to life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4.5/5⭐️
Pub Day: Today!

I do love a good family drama and this one hit the mark. This has a truly unique subject matter of a puppeteering man who fathers three half sisters. These sisters are separated by years and lifestyles and each was given rich backstories alongside their current life struggles.

I really enjoyed learning about what went into becoming a puppeteer, from the mechanisms to the physicality of working them. The subject matter might not be the right fit for everyone, but I found it fascinating!

The narration by Lauren Ezzo was spectacular! I actually had to go back and check because I thought there were multiple narrators giving life to each character. Definitely recommend this one on audio if you’re considering adding it to your list.

Thank you Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the alc in exchange for an honest review!

I really didn't like this book. It starts off with awful fat centric comments and that plot line continues
then you add in the awful workplace comments.
there's often no discerning between when the puppets are talking and when the narrator is talking.
it's just an odd book full of odd people and an awful fat phobic author. no thank you.

A family drama with plenty to keep you busy! We follow three sisters and the details of their personal lives and troubles. Their father is a famed puppeteer and creator. Puppet shows were a big part of their life growing up. This was a unique aspect of the book—I’ve never read about a puppeteer!

When their dad turns 80 he tells his three daughters that there’s another daughter! Shock and betrayal is felt as they worry about who, what does this mean and will it affect their inheritance?

I was lightly entertained. I do enjoy family dramas and this was decent. It was a short audiobook at 6+ hours and the narration was well done.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advance audiobook.

Jane, Rosie, and Cora are half-sisters navigating their way through their 80-year-old father's dementia. They don't always see eye to eye, they don't even look alike, and all three had drastically different experiences growing up. However, they come together to try to solve a mystery planted in their minds by their dad - there is a 4th sister!

I really enjoyed all of the characters in this book. While they're all quite different, each is struggling with her own challenges which reflect a lot about who they are individually. There are lovely fairy tales (some classic, some reimagined) that are sprinkled throughout the book, and often the sisters' lives are reflected in these tales.

It was intriguing to delve into the world of puppeteering - something I knew very little of before. Cora spoke of the puppets with adoration and respect and the memories they held for all three girls were truly magical. Witnessing the embracing or pushing away of the world of puppets, or of art in general, was very interesting to observe in the three sisters. I didn't particularly enjoy the ending, but the rest of the book kept my attention and I loved following the stories of these three unique ladies.

Despite a catchy blurb and good premise this one could not hook my attention. None of the characters clicked with me. I didn’t love the narrator and by the end her tone felt robotic and grating.

Lastly - I understand this is a character, and a puppet at that mind you. But the word g*psy is a slur. It was difficult to hear that word over and over and over again used carelessly.

Three half sisters search for their fourth sister while reconciling their relationships with their puppeteer father and with one another. The story is told by the three sisters rotating by chapter.

I had a special fondness for puppets as a child so this story reminded me of my long forgotten puppets, puppet shows and making puppets. The story broadened my understanding of the puppet world, and also wove in puppet fairy tales to help explain the sisters’ challenges and resolutions.

It was an enjoyable listen with a unique perspective and well developed characters.

Thank you to Net Galley for an audio version in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story of 3 half sisters coming to terms with the declining health of their father and their differing relationships with him after discovering an unexpected addendum to his will. This book has a mild element of magical realism that I just loved. The characters were well developed and easy to become invested in. I’m not a huge fan of family dramas but I’m glad I requested this one and I’d recommend it to those who generally enjoy them.

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for this ALC!

The Puppeteer’s Daughters begins at the 80th birthday of the rapidly declining Walter Gray, a famed puppeteer who is a little bit Jim Henson, a little bit Mr. Rogers…but maybe not as wholesome. The party is being thrown by his three adult daughters, who all have different mothers and symbolize very different periods in Gray’s storied career. When Walter lets it slip that there is a fourth daughter, the daughters initially think it may be a sign of his dementia. However, an incomplete paternity test and a series of strange conditions in Walter’s will seem to suggest that Walter’s admission may actually be true.

My immediate thought upon starting The Puppeteer’s Daughters was “this must be a retelling of Shakespeare’s King Lear,” which is particularly interesting as there have been a number of puppet theater productions of King Lear over the years. This feels like a more charming, fairy tale-tinged version of Lear, which I didn’t know I needed but I’m quite happy I got. There are a lot of extremely detailed characters introduced, which occasionally got confusing, but I was eventually able to catch up and sort out everyone’s relationships. Novels about complicated family sagas require that kind of detail, so I do appreciate it in the long run.

This was a great book and I got through it in one day — it just sped by and I enjoyed every moment. It’s not normally the kind of book I think I’d pick up for myself, but I’m so glad I got the opportunity to read it blind.