THE LEGEND OF DAISY FLOWERDEW

by Patricia Pendergraft ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 17, 1990

Poor, unfeminine, pathologically taciturn Daisy is raised by her Granny Henry--her lovely (but quintessentially self-centered) mother, lessee, doesn't want to admit that she exists. When Granny dies, Daisy--not 13--is dumped on Jessee and her new husband, Delbert, who hatch a plan to pay $10 to any man who will take her off their hands by marrying her. Enter Elmer Goots, a no-good, 17-year-old lout, who sets his heart on the money; enter also a salesman, Yule, who bestows two magical paper dolls on Daisy. The dolls become Daisy's only allies, rescuing her in a curious apotheosis just before her travesty of a marriage reaches its threatened ugly consummation. As lyrical as Pendergraft's earlier books, where miraculous endings are borne of ordinary human endeavors and kindness, this seems intended as a fairy tale. Except for Granny and Daisy, the characters here are a sniping, whining, callously creel bunch who read Daisy's silence as doltishness rather than as the long-suffering, gentle introspection that readers are drawn to see. Folksy but blunt and unsatisfying: fine for fans, but not the book to win new ones.

Pub Date: May 17, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 190

Publisher: Philomel/Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1990

Categories: CHILDREN'S