Her Daughter by Fran Hawthorne is a wonderful, complex novel I really enjoyed.

This is an incredibly well created family drama.

The estrangement of mother (Alice) and daughter (Esme) was heart wrenching, leaving me tearful.

The story is told in parallel timelines, and I enjoy the pieces of information that are dropped by the author that indicate what might have led to the estrangement.

The characters are well written, complex, flawed, and fleshed out.

I really enjoyed the way that the family dynamics were written.

Highly recommend!

How did Alice get here? The only way she knew about her 24-year-old daughter's (Esme) arrest was an email from her estranged ex, Dan.

Fran Hawthorne's new release begins with this shocking reveal, then takes us back to the beginning of Alice and Dan. Along the way we also get a glimpse of the many avenues Alice is pursuing to find Esme and offer help. To reconnect.

Here are some things I really liked about this new title:

👩The book is from Alice's perspective. While she and I are quite different, we both dearly love our children. I can imagine how painful it would be to have a child cut you out of their life without warning. Fran Hawthorne gives us a window into that place and we must not look away.
👭Alice has a friend named Roz who has known her since childhood. What a valuable sounding board and support a friend like that can be.
😎The sunny California setting. Alice loves living near the beach and I would too. With a storm and arctic air on the way, a day at the beach sounds like heaven.
🤩While there are many difficult days chronicled in the book, the ending is quite hopeful. Alice has a new outlook on her close relationships and confidence for the next chapter.

Thank you to the author, Black Rose Writing, and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review. Happy Publication Day -- January 22, 2026.

I probably loved this book so much because I've been divorced and I've experienced parental estrangement.

So I couldn't wait to dive into this book.

I can tell you that Fran wove this story perfectly. I felt everything Alice felt and her struggle to regain her relationship with Esme her daughter was just painful at times.

That being said. Fran did a tremendous job and I am hooked on her writing style.

📚Her Daughter
✍🏻Fran Hawthorne
Blurb:
"A deep dive into the pain of separation and hope for reconciliation conveyed with grace, realism, and empathy." –Kirkus Reviews

"About parenthood, love, the mystery of estrangement and hope of reconciliation, this novel is a stunner." -Caroline Leavitt, New York Times best-selling author of Pictures of You and Days of Wonder

"I'm only telling you in case the police contact you. Esme was arrested, but I'm handling everything, and she doesn't want to hear from you."

That email from her ex-husband is almost the only information Alice Wilson has had about her twenty-three-year-old daughter, Esme, in the six years since Esme abruptly ended all communication.

As Alice, an environmental activist, scrambles to learn why Esme was arrested and what might happen next, she inevitably also rethinks the past. Her obsessive search up and down the California coast antagonizes her friends and jeopardizes her job. But none of that matters to Alice as she uncovers hints of a daughter she'd never known-and of her then-husband's role in their estrangement, even while they were married.

Who is the Robert Corning who was arrested with Esme, and why did she pay his bail? Why did Esme become bulimic in college? Why is she continuing to push Alice away while still being chummy with her father? Most importantly, will Esme agree to meet with Alice? And if she does, will Alice say the wrong thing-whatever that wrong thing is?
My Thoughts:
Fran Hawthorne's Her Daughter follows the disturbing story of Alice, a woman who over the course of the novel finds herself estranged from both ex-husband and daughter and seeks desperately to regain contact with the adult daughter Esme. As a parent, it's difficult to imagine being totally estranged from your child and even more difficult to realize that the husband that you once loved, is the person who has engineered the estrangement. Alice loved being a mother to her daughter Esme and was hurt and confused when her daughter decided to live with her dad and his new wife when she was 15. Time passes and now Esme is 23yo and hasn’t spoken to Alice for 6 years.This is a story that verges on becoming a psychological thriller--there are hints of real evil
Thanks NetGalley, Black Rose Writing and Author Fran Hawthorne;for the complimentary copy of "Her Daughter" I am leaving my voluntary review in appreciation.
#NetGalley
#BlackRoseWriting
#FranHowthorne
#HerDaughter
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️