Two Daughters

'This book will make you think, get your heart pumping and leave you wanting more.' The Australian Women's Weekly

'Sharply observed and skilfully drawn, this clever debut novel is an exploration of motherhood, abandonment and class ... exactly my kind of book!' - Sally Hepworth, author of Darling Girls

'With a pacy, intricate plot that weaves across decades and continents, Two Daughters is a gripping and witty debut.' - Diana Reid, author of Love & Virtue

'Fresh, vivid and original ... an incisive exploration of social justice, class, identity, and what it means to challenge the expectations set for women's lives.' - Clare Stephens, writer and host of the Mamamia podcasts Cancelled and But Are You Happy?

For Ava, heading to university in Sydney is her escape from a poverty-stricken upbringing. Her mother is long gone, her father able to provide love but little else. On the other side of the world, Laurie tolerates university only at the insistence of her father, a Marxist professor. Her mother died in childbirth, and Laurie dreams of freedom, far from the Cambridge cloisters.

It is within these college grounds that Ava and Laurie cross paths. They could not be more different, and yet as each grapples with the lasting effects of losing a mother, their lives become entwined in ways neither could have anticipated.

Alison Edwards' brilliant novel Two Daughters explores family, class, social justice and love with a large dose of wit, the occasional detour into darkness, but always with the heartbeat of hope.

'Punchy and thought provoking...The resulting novel is real and raw, captivating and compulsive. It deals with important themes, including motherhood, academia and class - in a clever, contemporary way.' The Australian Women's Weekly

'Exploring themes of motherhood, class, social justice and love, this is a novel full of wit and heart.' Who Magazine

'Explores themes of class with wit and wisdom' Sunday Life

About the Author :
Alison Edwards is an Australian/British author and linguist. She was born and raised on the south coast of New South Wales. She has lived in Europe and the UK ever since semi-failing to return home from a university exchange program in Germany. She studied journalism and international studies before obtaining a PhD in linguistics at the University of Cambridge. She is now based with her family in Amsterdam, where she works as a translator, editor and sometime academic. Two Daughters is her first novel.

Review :
'Two Daughters is that rare book that is gripping enough to get your heart pumping by the end of the prologue, yet smart enough to keep your brain ticking long after the final page. Sharply observed and skilfully drawn, this clever debut novel is an exploration of motherhood, abandonment and class - my favourite things to explore. In short, exactly my kind of book!' - Sally Hepworth, author of Darling Girls

'With a pacy, intricate plot that weaves across decades and continents, Two Daughters is a gripping and witty debut.' - Diana Reid, author of Love & Virtue


'Fresh, vivid and original...an incisive exploration of social justice, class, identity, and what it means to challenge the expectations set for women's lives.' - Clare Stephens, writer and host of the Mamamia podcasts Cancelled and But Are You Happy?