“What a find Ben Rogers is. I couldn’t put The Daughters down. It’s all heart and soul. Rogers is a sharp writer who has built a beautiful novel that doesn’t pull any punches. Growing up is hard on everyone: mothers, fathers, and daughters—and for both good and bad, daughters carry with them what they learn. I can’t recommend this one enough.”

—Willy Vlautin, author of The Horse, recipient of the 2025 Joyce Carol Oates Prize

“A mother who chooses a business suit over apron strings. A daughter who levies her revenge on her steadfast father and his new love, a woman who only tries to fill the girl’s cracks with gold. The Daughters drifts through radio frequencies, ocean waves, and a metal detector to excavate forgiveness in this vibrating novel.”

—Laura Newman, 2024 Silver Pen Award recipient, author of The Darling of the Black Rock Desert: Three Novellas Set in the West

“With profound empathy for the complexities of the human psyche and a sensory-drenched evocation of place, Rogers harnesses the combined power of science and story to illuminate our seemingly infinite capacity to hurt—and to heal—the ones we love.”

—Alicia Barber, PhD, writer and historian, author of Reno's Big Gamble: Image and Reputation in the Biggest Little City 

• The language

• The author is also a scientist and an engineer, and sees the world through that lens sometimes, a viewpoint not typical in literature

• The universality of the relationship the book shines its light upon–half the population is a daughter–another huge fraction has one

• The mashup of themes is unique and provides for fun deep dives (ham radio, metal detecting, barrel racing, competitive swimming, particle physics)