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Back The Favorite Daughter Save as PDF
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Back Cover Text
  3. Booklist
  4. Dedication
  5. Quote
  6. SUNDAY
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. MONDAY
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. TUESDAY
  16. 8
  17. 9
  18. 10
  19. 11
  20. 12
  21. 13
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. WEDNESDAY
  25. 16
  26. 17
  27. 18
  28. 19
  29. 20
  30. 21
  31. 22
  32. 23
  33. 24
  34. 25
  35. 26
  36. 27
  37. 28
  38. 29
  39. 30
  40. 31
  41. 32
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. THURSDAY
  45. 35
  46. 36
  47. 37
  48. 38
  49. 39
  50. 40
  51. 41
  52. 42
  53. EPILOGUE
  54. DEAR READER LETTER
  55. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  56. READERS GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
  57. Best Day Ever
  1. We’re all unreliable narrators of our personal stories, whether we’re comfortable admitting it or not. For example, most of us are on social media, where we share our filtered and carefully curated version of our lives. The perfect couple. The perfect day. A perfect illusion. Is Jane Harris that much different?
  2. Does Jane have a favorite daughter? Why or why not?
  3. At the beginning of the story, Jane tells us she’s working on being a better mother, a better spouse. Is she trying to fool you, the reader, or herself?
  4. Was Elizabeth James attempting to “steal” Mary from Jane?
  5. In our society, we elevate and treasure mothers, almost to a point where the ideal of what a mother should be obscures the actual reality of who she is. Do you think that’s part of how Jane was able to keep her true self hidden for so long? Was it hard for you to imagine a mother who isn’t what she seems?
  6. Betsy is a step ahead of Jane in this story. Is she just like her mom, as Jane claims? Or has Betsy become Jane’s complete opposite?
  7. Do you feel at all sorry for Jane? Why?
  8. Did Kylie get what she deserved?
  9. What do you think of David and his relationships with women?

Keep reading for an excerpt from Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda.

Best Day Ever

by Kaira Rouda

1

I glance at my wife as she climbs into the passenger seat, sunlight bouncing off her shiny blond hair like sparklers lit for the Fourth of July, and I am bursting with confidence. Everything is as it should be.

Here we are, just the two of us, about to spend the weekend at our lake house. Today represents everything I’ve worked for, that we have built together. The sun blasts through my driver’s side window with such intensity I feel the urge to hold my hand up to the side of my face to shield my eyes, even though my sunglasses are dark and should be doing the job. Under any other circumstances, on any other day, they would be, I know. But today, something is different between us; some strange tension pulses through the still air of the car’s interior. I cannot see it, but it’s here. I’d like to name it. Discover its source and eliminate it.