Darkly glittering ... Dey is less interested in unpacking or satirizing Paul than she is in Mona, who may be her own, more intriguing form of art monster ... [Dey] balances feverish melodrama with chilled and precise prose. The writing is streamlined, forensic ... Mona wages her own war, over her power as a writer, and as a woman. This beautiful and piercing novel is her hard-won victory.
An odd book, interesting at times — it's a noble attempt at telling the story of a family that is dysfunctional in both garden-variety and bizarre ways. The novel doesn't work, but there are some flashes of Dey's usually excellent writing ... An intensely psychological novel, one that poses questions it doesn't, and maybe can't, answer ... While Dey is clearly a talented writer, with a gift for some memorable turns of phrase, the prose in Daughter is mostly repetitive and plodding, making it difficult for the reader to sustain interest. The novel reads like a confession without remorse, an emotional unburdening without insight ... A misfire.
It’s all very nasty and spectacular, but to what end? One problem with Daughter is that the great art intended to justify the hideous behavior is merely notional ... The real play in this novel is the attempt to fob off self-importance for actual meaning.
It explores intense emotions with scary honesty yet also with flat, almost Dick-and-Jane language, while shifting back and forth in time across more than two decades. Thanks to author Claudia Dey’s extraordinary control, this juggling act mostly works ... With so much drama already in the emotions and relationships, Daughter is marred by extra touches of melodrama ... Yet overall, this is an original and powerful novel that a reader won’t easily forget.
Dey’s narrative voice is restrained, as if the distance between her characters is recreated between us and the book, which is apt for a novel examining articulations of pain. Readers ready for an emotionally intense experience will find that Daughter brings unforgiving perspectives on life imitating art.
Detailed ... Everyone in this novel is tortured. Expect sharp observations and fluid prose; don’t expect a sense of humor. Dey’s characters take themselves very seriously.
Obtuse, melodramatic ... Dey’s mostly flat, unvaried prose style becomes tiring, and despite a satisfying ending, readers will likely run out of steam before they make it there. This disappoints.
