Daughters-in-Law by Joanna Trollope

It’s a long time since I read a Joanna Trollope novel so 'thoughtfully'. I read most of her early novels avidly - The Choir and The Rector’s Wife etc. - when I would have loved a book group, which didn’t exist then, in order to discuss them. I kept up with her novels until a couple of years ago when I decided to move on. But Daughters-in-Law has been a welcome return. I have to say it made me feel grateful to have daughters, unlike the dominant Rachel who feels shut-out by her three sons’ wives. This novel was a painful, almost disturbing read, observing in-laws becoming grandparents and still trying to influence their children who need space to work out their marriages and new roles of parenthood in privacy. I felt sympathy for all the characters, even if I didn’t like them very much, caught up in such a complicated web from which there was no easy escape as loyalties became divided and relationships frayed. The author's ability to make me see 'all sides' made me wiser and more thoughtful about how complicated families are. This is a novel to discuss with friends: too intimate, perhaps, for a book group unless it’s a therapy group and confidentiality is paramount!