Thirteen‑year‑old Jennie Marcowitz trusts two certainties: Ms. Richter’s Day School battle cry—“Stand up and fight like a woman!”—and the rock‑solid marriage of her psychologist mother and wine‑importing father. Both crumble when she spots Dad on an Upper West Side corner, kissing a blond whose hair is “the color of Tupelo honey.”
Jennie’s activist instincts ignite. Armed with the refined palate her father taught her, she stages a confrontation over a bottle of 1945 Fonseca port. At his urging, she endures a three‑top lunch at Le Cygne with the other woman, Susan. Help is scarce: Rita “Bandita” Fleugelman is busy shoplifting an inflatable swimming pool—and briefly, Jennie’s wise‑cracking boyfriend, Howie Simonize—while the school’s doll‑cluttered office dismisses philandering as a male weakness and orders her to keep silent. Smart, funny, and candid, Daddy’s Girl tracks the messy grace of family truth‑telling.
- “…a dramatic contemporary situation that carries plenty of archetypal resonance... The plot is wonderfully rich and inventive... a scene of warmth and understanding, both qualities that have filled the book... a splendid entertainment.” — The New York Times