The Favorite Daughter Paperback – June 4, 2019

I seem to gravitate to stories like this - stories where a character leaves home and returns years later because of some difficulty or tragedy. This one was written with such wonderful descriptions. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Ten years ago, Lena Donohue experienced a wedding-day betrayal so painful that she fled the small town of Watersend, South Carolina, and reinvented herself in New York City. Though now a freelance travel writer, the one place she rarely goes is home—until she learns of her dad’s failing health.Returning to Watersend means seeing the sister she has avoided for a decade and the brother who runs the family’s Irish pub and has borne the burden of his sisters’ rift. While Alzheimer’s slowly steals their father’s memories, the siblings rush to preserve his life in stories and in photographs. As his secret past brings Lena’s own childhood into focus, it sends her on a journey to discover the true meaning of home.My Thoughts: Colleen and Hallie were as close as two sisters could be until the betrayal that changed everything between them. I was immediately caught up in the family stories that unfolded in The Favorite Daughter, and for most of the book, I was angry with Hallie, on Colleen’s behalf. But then, almost like turning a page and finding a completely different version of reality, another perspective revealed itself.The pub that was the centerpiece of the family life in Watersend was based on an Irish pub and another family story that was only fleshed out near the end. A journey to Ireland, a travel memoir that incorporates Colleen’s search for home, and the ultimate reunion kept me turning pages until the end. 4.5 stars.

I fell in love with the story, the characters and Ms Henry’s gift of writing. Highly recommend the book !

I laughed and I cried. A beautiful story about family and the father that holds it all together…until he can’t.

Full of rich compelling characters with a tantalizing story line. One minute you love the heroine, then the next minute you're disappointed in her. But it keeps you reading about this family with deeply a moving history. So well written.

Lovely story with great background. loveable characters. Storyline slow and did not keep me interested in places but subject matter is very important.

This book was awesome the characters were great the story beautiful . I loved learning more about Ireland . I am recommending thus book to my book club.

I picked this book because it was about the south, but other than descriptions of places in South Carolina, there wasn’t much south in it. It was more about Ireland. Both siblings of Coleen who grew up in the south, were not given a southern accent at all by the narrator. I could have been reading about a family anywhere.