15 December 2011

Novels with 'related' titles

In the past decade, 26 novels have been titled with a variant of "The X's Daughter."  Here's are some examples:

The Jailbird’s Daughter, by Irene Carr (2005)
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, by Kim Edwards (2005)
The Preacher’s Daughter, by Beverley Lewis (2005)
The Abortionist’s Daughter, by Elisabeth Hyde (2006)
The Alchemist’s Daughter, by Katherine McMahon (2006)
The Tailor’s Daughter, by Maggie Bennett (2006)
The Admiral’s Daughter, by Julian Stockwin (2007)
The Gravedigger’s Daughter, by Joyce Carol Oates (2007)
The Officer’s Daughter, by Zina Rohan (2007)
The Pirate’s Daughter, by Margaret Cezair-Thompson (2007)
The Apothecary’s Daughter, by Julie Klassen (2008)
The Cabalist’s Daughter, by Yori Yanover (2008)
The Heretic’s Daughter, by Kathleen Kent (2008)
The Bishop’s Daughter, by Tiffany Warren (2009)
The Calligrapher’s Daughter, by Eugenia Kim (2009)
The Frontiersman’s Daughter, by Laura Frantz (2009)
The Glass Painter’s Daughter, by Rachel Hore (2009)

The rest of the entries are listed at eu.than.asia, where the suggestion is offered that this trend was triggered by the success of Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter in 2001.

13 comments:

  1. I guess I should rethink my novel's title "My Daughter's Daughter"

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  2. How about "The Coal Miner's Daughter" from 1980? A movie, but based on a book by Loretta Lynn.

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  3. I don't believe there was ever a book by that name.

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  4. That explains a small part of why I have been so confused regarding all these books about daughters - I certainly didn't realise there were so many.

    The rest, sadly, is probably due to my lack of concentration and memory skills.

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  5. and all written by women

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  6. Interesting observation - I hadn't noticed.

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  7. http://www.amazon.com/Loretta-Lynn-Coal-Miners-Daughter/dp/0306810379

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  8. Oh, thank you. I've noticed the trend, and didn't know how to find out how many "... 's daughter" titles there were.

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  9. There is also the Daughters of Lancaster County series of Amish-themed fiction by Wanda Brunstetter.
    These titles are: The Storekeeper's Daughter, The Quilter's Daughter, and The Bishop's Daughter.

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  10. The Marsh King's Daughter by Elizabeth Chadwick

    --Swift Loris

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  11. There's a similar trend with assistants and wives. The Beekeeper's Assistant, The Zookeeper's Wife, etc.

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  12. I'm sure it's a long standing trend. Loretta Lynn's book is actually from 1976.

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