Two Daughters by Alison Edwards is a fictional story of two women, Ava and Laurie, who both would like a different life. It is a story of loss, family, class, love, secrets, motherhood, trust and self-discovery.
From the prologue, we know that Ava is guilty of something and Laurie knows what it is.
Ava grew up in a Caravan Park in NSW with her father, who is struggling with MS. Her mother had left them when Ava was very young. Ava dreams of escaping the poverty of her home life by going to university. In Sydney, she meets her best friend May. Ava’s studies take her overseas to a college in Cambridge.
Laurie grew up in Cambridge with her father, Eric, a professor at the university. Laurie’s childhood was very comfortable, although she spent much of it attending protests with her Father, who was passionate about social justice. Laurie’s mother died in childbirth and her friends Del and Anil are there for her.
They do have some things in common, both women grew up motherless and discovered the people they love have kept secrets from them. They both have life choices to make and very different paths to take.
What is it that links Ava and Laurie in the present and the past?
The plot is intricate and suspenseful as you wonder what links them to each other and how their lives have entwined. A clever twist brings it all together.
The book is presented in three parts, before, during and after. The alternate chapters are narrated by Ava and Laurie.
Set in a college environment Alison Edwards has drawn on her time doing her PhD at Cambridge.
The characters Ava and Laurie are interesting and relatable. The supporting characters Eric, May, Del, Anil, Colin and Pat add depth and at times humour to the story.
I enjoyed this well-written and easy to read book.
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club members are reading Two Daughters by Alison Edwards. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
I love to read, any book on any topic. I now love ebooks as they are easier to store, I was running out of bookshelves! My other interests are family, gardening and our beautiful King Charles spaniel dog who is my reading companion.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read Two Daughters by Alison Edwards.
This was an enjoyable read.
Two daughters from different families and backgrounds, their lives twist together in ways that they could not have imagined.
Ava is bought up by her father in poverty in Australia.
Laurie is bought up by her father in Cambridge.
They are worlds apart, so what circumstances could make their paths cross?
Highly recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Two Daughters by Alison Edwards is the dual stories of Ava and Laurie. Ava earns a scholarship to Cambridge, where she meets Colin Byrne-Beaumont and they get married. Her father Eric is a single Dad after her mother died in childbirth. Ava wants to get away from the small, desolate town where she was born and meeting Colin was the perfect opportunity. Laurie doesn’t want to go to University but feels pressured to by her father who is a professor who has set thoughts and is always involved in protests. Both Ava and Laurie lost their mothers a long time ago and their circumstances seem to have a large effect on their lives. It was good to see the way they grow and mature, Laurie having a baby and Ava rethinking her decisions.
When I heard their lives intersect I kept trying to guess how. It wasn’t immediately clear which kept the book very interesting. The book did not go any way that I expected, which was a big plus for me. This is a book with many themes – family, motherhood, class issues, secrets and the past. I would recommend this book for anyone, especially those who are in a rut or are blaming their childhood for their current path.
Thanks Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read Alison Edwards debut novel Two Daughters.
This book follows the lives of Ava from The South Coast of NSW and Laurie from Cambridge in England, both bought up by single dad’s.
The girl’s lives cross paths and we follow their stories of adventures, disappointments, motherhood, environmental and social justice opinions, heartache and finally the connection that they have together.
An easy and enjoyable read
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Many thanks to Beauty and Lace for my copy of Two Daughters to read.
This book covers two completely different girls lives.
Ava, starts out life in poverty in Australia until she ends up at Cambridge University where her life turned upside down.
Laurie, has been trying to avoid going to university as it isn’t for her but her father, Eric, is a Cambridge lifer.
The one thing Ava and Laurie have in common is they both lost their mothers while they were young and were raised by their fathers.
They paths cross as the story unfolds and there is a lot of different subjects throughout this book. Parenting, family and love regardless of circumstances.
Great book for a debut.
I really enjoyed Alison Edwards’ Two Daughters, an interlinked story about two very different women from opposite ends of the globe who are unknowingly linked through a long kept secret. I enjoyed the contrast between the wild south coast of NSW and the historical Cambridge. However, my favourite part of this book is the lively and quirky cast of characters, chief among them Ava’s friend May, never afraid to speak her mind, and Laurie’s uni mates Anil and Del, who are delightfully smitten by Laurie’s impending arrival. The grounding in actual events also lends an element of authenticity and a little history lesson to boot! I would highly recommend Alison Edwards’ Two Daughters. Thanks to Beauty and Lace for the ARC.
Two Daughters by Alison Edwards is a gripping story of two women who lives are intertwined in ways they could never imagine. Ava grew up poor and is from a small coastal town in NSW while Laurie is from Cambridge where her father is a professor. Both grew up without their mothers. We follow their lives from their final days of high school through university, making their own way in the world and the trials of early adult hood.
Ava and Laurie are almost opposites to the point you would not expect there to be a connection between them. Exactly how their lives are intertwined doesn’t become clear until a fair way through the book, but you know that connection is teasing you to the point you have to keep reading as you need to know. With a host of supporting characters that help keep the story flowing across the alternating Ava and Laurie chapters, this is a real page turner. I very much enjoyed this book.
Thank you Beauty and Lace and Atlantic Books Australia for the opportunity to read and review this great book.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for giving me the opportunity to read and review Two Daughters by Alison Edwards.
The novel tells duel stories of two completely different women who live very different lives in two different countries but they do have one thing in common, they have both lost their mums.
Ava hails from country New South Wales, was raised by her Dad and they did not have a lot of money.
Laurie, on the other hand hails from Cambridge in England and was also raised by her single Dad. They however were quite wealthy.
As we delved into the characters and what was going on in their lives we could tell that their stories were going to come together in some way.
Each woman forging their way through life. Ava receives a scholarship to Cambridge University to follow her dreams whilst Laurie has no desire to go to university but has a Dad who is a professor at Cambridge and puts pressure on her to go.
Throughout the book we follow the ladies lives throughout University, motherhood, heartache, lots of different adventures, beliefs etc and then the ladies lives intertwine in a way in a way I wasn’t necessarily expecting.
This was Alison Edwards first novel and I quite liked it. I actually struggled to put it down when it arrived.
I definitely recommend reading Two Daughter, you won’t be disappointed.