The premise of Favorite Daughter, Morgan Dick's debut novel, is an uncomfortable one. Mickey's absent, alcoholic father dies and unexpectedly leaves her a large sum of money, with a catch: she must complete seven therapy sessions to get the funds. The session vouchers he's left her take her to a specific therapist, Arlo, who is grieving the loss of her own father--who just so happens, unbeknownst to either of them, to be Mickey's father also.
As their sessions unfold, their web of interconnectedness becomes more tangled. Mickey's personal demons grow stronger (and more damaging) than ever, and Arlo uncovers the truth about the will and who Mickey is. Arlo feels resentful at being cut out of their father's will and upset at Mickey's primarily negative view of their father. In their sessions, she tries to nudge her sister toward what she believes are the right decisions about forgiveness and the money itself. Following a series of escalating destructive and unethical choices by both sisters, the novel culminates in a public confrontation before settling into an unpolished, realistic ending as the sisters realize that their best chance for understanding and healing might involve each other.
Dick's deft prose somehow makes all of this grimly funny, capturing the characters with a sharp eye that toes the line between sympathy and empathy. As Dick holds Mickey's belief that people are inherently selfish against Arlo's belief that they are inherently good, she posits that wondering about inherent goodness isn't always worthwhile. The interplay of trauma and choice is on full display in this engrossing novel that ultimately honors the human capacity for healing. --Kristen Coates, editor and freelance reviewer