II really liked The Dream Daughter, the first book I’ve read by Diane Chamberlain. This engaging story with its unique premise begins in1965 when our protagonist, Carly Sears is a physical therapist student. She is very close to graduation with her wedding one week later.
The first paragraph drew me right in by piquing my curiosity:
No one wanted to work with the man in the wheelchair. “There’s something strange about that guy,” one of my fellow students warned me in the hall outside the PT ward. “If they try to assign you to him, say no.”
This man (Hunter Poole) has been uncooperative with everyone but when he spots Carly, he smiles at her and requests her for his physical therapist. Carly agrees and they make some progress with learning how to use crutches. But then a brand new Beatles song makes its debut on the radio and Hunter sings along. He knows every word but the song has never been played before. Carly is suspicious but because he’s a Beatles fan, she wants him to meet her Beatlemaniac sister Patti.
The next chapter opens five years later and Patti is married to Hunter and they have a one year old child. Carly has lost her husband in the Viet Nam war and her unborn baby has a fatal heart condition. She is devastated especially because this baby represents her last tie to Joe, her deceased husband. But Hunter has an idea of how she might be able to save her baby. And Carly will stop at nothing to save her child.
Dream Daughter is a satisfying and suspenseful read with some good twists and turns that I did not see coming. I was never bored reading this book and found myself flipping the pages, anxious to know what would happen next. Chamberlain excels at setting the time period and detailing the settings as well as the current cultural experiences. The characters are well developed and seem like people I would know. You cannot help but root for Carly and her baby. At its core, Dream Daughter is a story about Faith — in oneself, one’s family, one’s destiny and both knowing and doing what is right. It deals with big decisions and selfish vs selfless love. It is also about determination and the lengths a mother will go to for their child. I now want to read Diane Chamberlain’s other books.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.
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