Book Review

By Derryll White

Blaedel, Sara (2018).  The Daughter.

Sara Blaedel is quick to establish Ilka Jensen as a single-minded, stubborn Dane. It’s a lot of fun to follow Ilka as she takes American bureaucracy and business head-on in a struggle of wills.  And yet, talking to the bereaved relatives doing business with the Jensen Funeral Home, Ilka was the embodiment of soulful understanding and sympathy. ‘The Daughter’ brings out the best in human nature and Ilka stands proudly for the sins of her father.

The funeral home setting is interesting and unique. I have never read another author making use of this super-real environment (except for the television series ‘Six Feet Under’), but Blaedel uses it to good advantage – life and death, love and pain all so real.

A father and his daughter, an unknown strength to some, powers this story. Ilka Jensen doesn’t discover why her dad left her when she was small, but she does discover the man. ‘The Daughter’ is a wonderful, moving story of love and determination. Blaedel continues to excel.

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Excerpt from the novel:

BIG BUSINESS – “American Funeral Group wants to take over everywhere.  They undermine businesses, pressure people to sell.  I’ve seen it before, and it’s not pretty.  They’re brutal.  They’ll stop at nothing.  If they can’t scare us into selling, they’ll make sure no one dares do business with us.  They’ll ruin us, take everything we have so we can’t fight them.  And they won’t give up until we surrender or close down.”

– Derryll White once wrote books but now chooses to read and write about them.  When not reading he writes history for the web at www.basininstitute.org.

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