A Daughter's a Daughter (novel)

A Daughter's a Daughter is a novel written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by Heinemann on November 24, 1952. Initially not published in the US, it was later issued as a paperback by Dell Publishing in September 1963. It was the fifth of six novels Christie wrote under the nom-de-plume Mary Westmacott.

Initially a play written by Christie in the late 1930s, the plot tells of a daughter's opposition to her mother's plan to remarry.

Explanation of the novel's title
The title comes from the adage: ''“A son is a son until he takes a wife. A daughter is daughter all of her life”''.

Plot summary
Ann Prentice falls in love with Richard Caulfield and hopes for new happiness. Her only child, Sarah, cannot contemplate the idea of her mother marrying again and wrecks any chance of her remarriage. Resentment and jealousy corrode their relationship as each seeks relief in different directions. Are mother and daughter destined to be enemies for life or will their underlying love for each other finally win through?

Characters
Ann's circle Sarah's circle Dame Laura's circle Edith's relatives Others
 * Ann Prentice
 * Sarah Prentice
 * Patrick Prentice
 * Edith
 * Dame Laura Whitstable
 * Colonel James Grant
 * Mr and Mrs Massingham
 * Jennifer Graham
 * Richard Caulfield
 * Professor Geoffrey Fane
 * Basil Mowbray
 * Kit Eliot
 * Lady Marcia Ladscombe
 * Lee
 * Gerry Lloyd
 * Lady Cronsham
 * Lawrence Steene
 * Noreen, who owns the flower shop where Sarah is employd
 * Sandra
 * Pam
 * Betty
 * Susan
 * Joan
 * Bassett
 * Harkness
 * Charlotte
 * David
 * Geraldine and her children, in Sussex
 * Walter
 * Emlyn
 * Professor Parkes
 * Moira Denham, Lawrence's second wife
 * Her sister Nora
 * Various relatives
 * Aline Caulfield
 * Mrs Hopper
 * Gerry's uncle Luke and aunt Lena
 * Sir Harry Steene
 * Dr McQueen
 * Sheila Vaughan Wright, a former friend of Lawrence
 * Paul, a French sculptor

References to actual history, geography, and current science

 * When being told that Lawrence Steene has been married three times, Dame Laura remarks: "Not another case of brides in the bath, I hope?". This is a reference to the murders committed by George Joseph Smith in the early 20th century, known as the Brides in the Bath Murders.
 * Sarah listens to Paul Robeson's song Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.

Publication history

 * 1952, Heinemann (London), November 24, 1952, Hardback, 200 pp
 * 1963, Dell Books (New York), September 1963, Paperback, 191 pp
 * 1972, Arbor House (New York), Hardback, 191 pp
 * 1978, Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardcover, 334 pp ISBN 0-7089-0217-0
 * 1986, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), Paperback

International titles

 * Swedish: Kärlekens offer (Victim of love), Mor och dotter (Mother and Daughter)