Daughters by Lucy Fricke
Review by Rachel Farmer
A surprising novel, brimming with cynical, razor-sharp humour, Daughters by Lucy Fricke, translated by Sinéad Crowe, is a gem. One of the first publications from V&Q Books, a new imprint specialising in German works translated into English, this novel promises to showcase the best of contemporary German literature —and it does not disappoint.
The story is narrated by Betty, a woman in her forties who we first meet in Rome, grappling with her desire and simultaneous disinclination to visit the grave of her childhood stepfather: a man she idolised to an unhealthy degree. Enter Martha, Betty’s close friend, who has been given the monumental task of driving her terminally ill father—with whom she has an extremely strained relationship—to his appointment at a euthanasia clinic in Switzerland. What follows is a riotous, tragicomic road trip that will lead both women irrevocably closer to the reality of their respective father-figures, with painful yet inevitable results: ‘Wedged between fathers, memories and death, we thought we could defeat it all if we just drove faster.’
The novel treads a fine line between the tragic and the ludicrous. In the opening scene, as Betty is contemplating whether to visit her stepfather’s grave, she observes a Victoria’s Secret helium balloon trapped in the dome of the Pantheon, egged on by cheering tourists. Her wry mockery of this irreverent moment is characteristic of the way the story is narrated, which often only adds to its pathos.
The self-deprecating, flippant tone of the narration is a stand-out feature of the novel, flawlessly rendered by Sinéad Crowe’s masterful translation. Striking the perfect tonal balance in a translation, particularly one with so much dark humour, is no mean feat, and Crowe discusses her rigorous process in the translator’s note (well worth the read) at the end of the book. Here, the sheer magnitude of the task she faced is made clear to the reader—for instance, Crowe mentions many examples of jokes, inferences and cultural references in the original that are highly specific to the German context—making her smooth, engrossing rendition all the more impressive.
But the essence of the novel does not merely rest in its dark humour, but in the substance beneath. It raises questions of family, friendship and death with sensitivity and tenderness, while also starkly exposing the lifelong trauma inflicted by neglectful parents: ‘We were the daughters of fathers who’d only found time to talk to us after they’d retired. […] Their love came so late that we barely knew what to do with it.’
Betty and Martha have been continually disappointed by their parents’ selfishness and indifference, yet cannot free themselves from the inextricable ties of duty and the longing for their approval. Betty has rooted her understanding of herself in a father-figure who abandoned her when she was still a child. This renders the very act of delving deeper into his story and discovering who he really was, warts and all, into an act of self-sabotage, causing the very identity she has ‘cobbled together’ to fall apart.
The two main characters are tragic in themselves, with Betty’s stubborn refusal to set healthy boundaries and her idealising of her childhood memories, and Martha’s determination to grant her father’s last wishes while dealing with the heartbreak of unsuccessful IVF and a string of miscarriages. But it is their friendship, their mutual love and understanding, that ties the story together, propping them up through every sideswipe and setback. Their relationship is founded, as Betty puts it, on the ‘ability to believe in each other when we’d lost the strength to believe in ourselves.’ Ironically, it is the very destruction wrought by their families that binds the two women together, each tacitly understanding the other’s struggles and pain, which in turn allows them to glimpse the dim prospect of healing from those same wounds.
Daughters is an expert blend of profound themes, dark wit, unforgettable characters, with enough unexpected twists to keep the reader engaged. Fricke’s story is packed full of humour and heart: an exceptional start from an intruguing new imprint
Daughters is published by V&Q Books, 15th September 2020