The Faraday Girls
by Monica McInerney
Published by Ballantine Books
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Reviewed by Claire Vath
When 17-year-old Clementine Faraday suddenly finds herself ‘with child,’ her father, Leo, and four sisters make a pact they’ll raise the baby until she turns five. Shortly after Maggie Faraday enters the world, Clementine—the apple of her father’s eye and named after the folk song—delves into the world of academic research, largely leaving her adoring sisters to ogle baby Maggie.
There’s the eldest of the family, Juliet, named for Shakespeare’s Juliet but way more practical. Even-tempered and quiet, Juliet was left to run the house after her mother’s sudden death.
Miranda, second in line, is appropriately named after a character in “The Tempest.” Self-absorbed and brash, Miranda’s only aspiration is to leave the family home in Hobart, Australia.
Eliza, whose moniker comes from Eliza Doolittle in “Pygmalion,” is more hardened, calculating and athletic.
Then there’s Sadie: plump, lacking self-confidence, the object of her sisters’ ridicule and named for the Shakespearean prostitute.
Despite the seemingly close-knit family, each girl feels that living together is their cross to bear—at least for the time being.
Sadie, however, finds solace and joy in babysitting the delightful Maggie, and assumes the responsibility full-time.
All the while, Leo pines for his deceased wife and hoards her possessions, much to the curiosity of his daughters. One afternoon, however, Sadie happens upon her mother’s diaries tucked away in Leo’s shed. The revelations she finds are deep, dark family secrets that will haunt her forever.
Twenty years later, the family is dispersed throughout the world, and Sadie’s whereabouts are unknown.
Leo, having enjoyed modest success with a few of his inventions, struggles to get his girls together again. He enlists Maggie’s help. Thus, Maggie Faraday is propelled into a journey of self-discovery, betrayal, secret romances and sibling rivalry. In the process she finds true love.
In The Faraday Girls, internationally bestselling author, Monica McInerney, weaves a delightful plot, developing fundamentally flawed characters with underlying redeemable qualities. She adeptly unveils rivalry at its finest, pitting sister against sister, mother against daughter and a grieving husband’s memory against his children.
Armchair Interviews says: Follow the girls through this family’s growing up years.
Author’s Web site: http://www.MonicaMcInerney.com