The Truth About My Daughter by Jo Skinner

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


‘The Truth about my Daughter’ might be a debut novel but its author, Jo Skinner, is no novice to writing. Indeed, she has written, published, and received awards for dozens of articles, short stories, and pieces of non-fiction. She also produces a fascinating monthly newsletter about three of her passions: writing, long-distance running, and medical matters (yes, she is also a GP).
‘The Truth about my Daughter’ is a tale about relationships and family ties: the good, the bad, the ugly. Through well-rounded characters, she exposes secrets that would otherwise never see the light of day beyond the family circle. Secrets about control, reward, punishment, desire, disappointment, failure, compassion. Much centres on the strained relationship between two sisters—Fin and George—and the difficult relationship with their parents. The overbearing, controlling father dreams big but delivers little, while the long-suffering mother cannot bring herself to question her husband’s wishes and motives.
There is a lot here to unpack. As adults, we have all experienced or witnessed these things. While the writing is easy to read, certain aspects of the narrative are difficult to process or may trigger strong emotional reactions.
For me, segments set in the COVID era are gut-wrenching. Like central character, Fin, I was shut out of the hospital when my husband was admitted suffering a life-threatening disease. Thankfully, he survived. While my son was locked down in Manhattan in 2020, I watched the TV footage in horror as body-bags containing victims were moved out of NYC hospitals. He survived too. My recent reading of ‘The Truth about my Daughter’ coincided with my own battle with COVID, the second in as many years. Fortunately, I was also a survivor.
Overall this engaging narrative, set in and around Brisbane, runs at a brisk pace throughout. Plenty of twists and turns keep you guessing; many moments resonate with personal experiences. Best of all is the unexpected but satisfying twist at the end. Highly recommended.




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