Daughters - by Kirsty Capes (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Perfect for fans of Daisy Jones and the Six, a funny, moving story of two sisters who embark on a road trip to protect the legacy of their artist mother, grappling with past secrets along the way

"Richly rewarding, stand-out fiction." ―Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other

When Mattie and Nora's mother, the brilliant, troubled, and world-renowned Norwegian painter Ingrid Olssen, was on her deathbed, there was one promise she asked her daughters to make: Burn it all. Throw it all away. Ingrid didn't want any of her art sold, didn't want it celebrated.

Two years later, Mattie hasn't done anything except for lock the pieces in a storage unit. She's barely seen Nora since Nora skipped their mother's funeral. Besides, she has her hands full raising the bold, creative teenage daughter she had when she was only a teenager herself. It was giving birth to Beanie that let her escape her mother's house--that and the support of Beanie's father, Gus.

But when Nora, an artist herself, falls deep into a mental health crisis of her own, she comes to live with Mattie and Beanie. And when their aunt Karo sets up the very last thing their mother ever would have wanted--an enormous retrospective of her work--the two of them somehow find themselves on the road trip of their lives: up the West Coast of the United States, with Beanie and their mother's ashes in tow.

Told partly in the form of the interviews that comprise Ingrid's biography, Daughters is tender, comic story of unpicking the scars of the past, and a must-read.

"Every word has the touch of a genius." ―BenjaminZephaniah, writer, dub poet, actor, musician, and professor of poetry and creative writing

Review Quotes

"A memorable portrayal of a family and damaged relationships painted with all the color, ambition, texture, and psychological complexity that makes for richly rewarding, stand-out fiction."--BERNARDINE EVARISTO, Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other

"A pin-sharp, propulsive story."--KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE, bestselling author of The Dance Tree

"Bold, brilliant, shocking, and shattering."--CHRIS WHITAKER, New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End

"Every word has the touch of a genius."--BENJAMIN ZAPHANIAH, award-winning author of Terror Kid

"Wonderful, wonderful storytelling and unforgettable characters."--SARA NISHA ADAMS, author of The Twilight Garden

About the Author

Kirsty Capes works in marketing and lives in Slough with her golden retriever, Doug. She holds a PhD from Brunel University London; her thesis investigates representations of the care experience in contemporary Norwegian fiction. Her first novel, Careless, was longlisted for the Women's Prize 2022. Daughters is her third novel.