Oh My Darling Daughter

by Eric Malpass

Mother cannot take any more – so she takes herself off on a madcap jaunt to Marrakesh. Father, it seems, is incapable of running a home, so it is left to seventeen-year-old Viola to take charge of the family. It is certainly no easy task to look after a grubby little brother or a younger sister who constantly asks about sex. To add to the chaos, Father invites the alluring Gloria to come and ‘keep house’ for the family. The sleepy village of Shepherd’s Delight has never seen anything quite like Gloria, and Viola begins to feel that life is getting just a little out of hand… This amusing tale of an unorthodox situation is also a thoughtful and perceptive account of a young woman’s coming of age.

Genres: Fiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Lizzie E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I utterly adore this book, but somehow I can't get anyone else to. It is by no means brilliant, but it thoroughly enjoyable, charming, funny and heart warming. I've been re-reading this book since I was a teenager so am very attached for nostalgic reasons, but even reading it as an adult I love it just as much as I did then.

[Erika Nerdypants · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book when I was a teenager. I read it first in German, but have read it many times since then.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slight but fun. Very dated. It was written in the 1970's but feels set in an earlier time. A good 25 cent purchase found on a shelf outside a used bookstore in Madison, WI.