The Daisy Children: A Novel

In 1937 in the community of New London, Texas, a school exploded, killing nearly 300 children and teachers. One of the richest districts in the state, the school was located in the ‘oil rich’ area, the first with a lighted football field, and heated, not with a central system, but through individual gas heaters throughout the building. In a cost-cutting measure, the decision was made to ‘tap into’ another source: not illegal, but also not safe. Unfortunately, the worst happened, at the school exploded – killing nearly 300. Parents, grieving and lost often rushed to replace the lost children, and here is where our story begins, several years later as a ‘replacement child’ makes her mark after her death. Mostly a story of Katie, granddaughter of Margaret, a replacement child, as she returns for a reading of Margaret’s will. Nothing in Katie’s trip is smooth, and she’s put into contact (again) with a cousin, Scarlett. The two are COMPLETE opposites: Scarlett seems to have followed the ‘family tradition’ in poor choices, while Katie’s marriage and considered choices are her watchword. But, she’s started to see (when she looks, infrequently) cracks in her own marriage, and this return may be a way to get answers to questions she’s always had. Perhaps Scarlett had them too? Oh the search back through Margaret’s story was intriguing: a replacement child, she was indulged in ways that made a disagreeable and often angry person, unable to translate love onto her own daughter. Uncovering questions, answers and even discovering how similar she and Scarlett are: stubborn, entitled, perhaps a bit angry, the task with this novel is to understand the women and their choices, but I found empathy for their stories, or even caring deeply about them was more of a challenge. It wasn’t the choices, not really, it was the walls and obstructions both built with attitude and anger that held me at a remove. The dual storylines were intriguing, if not wholly engaging to me, and kept me reading. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via Edelweiss for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.