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*A 2022 FOREWORD REVIEWS BOOK AWARD FINALIST*
A new novel by the award-winning author of Under the Mercy Trees.
Famed puppeteer and master manipulator Walter Gray surprises his three daughters by announcing there is a fourth at his 80th birthday party. An incomplete paternity test—and a will that places a condition on each daughter’s inheritance—suggest that the missing daughter isn’t a figment of his dementia.
Jane, the eldest, is tired of her father’s eccentricities. She remembers the scarcity of her childhood and doesn’t want another sister to share the birthright.
Rosie, born out of wedlock, sees the missing sister as her key to acceptance as a full member of the puppeteer’s family.
Cora, the youngest, born after Walter achieved fame and fortune, is most concerned with extricating herself from running Walter’s company so that she can pursue her own life.
The sisters each knew a different version of their enigmatic father, but all grew up in the presence of fairy tales acted out with marionettes and shadow puppets. If they are to find the fourth daughter and claim the legacy their father has left them, the three must confront their fractured relationships with their father and each other. Infused with fairy tales that sometimes spill magic into the sisters’ real lives, The Puppeteer’s Daughters is a stunningly-woven family saga about the cost and rewards of claiming a creative life.
“An aging, celebrated puppeteer throws his daughters’ lives into chaos in Heather Newton’s gripping new novel . . . A heartwarming story about self-acceptance, forgiveness, and the strings sometimes attached to family love.” —Foreword Reviews
“The Puppeteer’s Daughters by Heather Newton masterfully captures the tenderness and tension between sisters . . . Newton employs a light touch with this enchanting tale of memory, myth, and magic, as each of The Puppeteer’s Daughters begins to untangle her complicated family legacy.” —Kim Wright, author of The Canterbury Sisters and Last Ride to Graceland
“Beautifully rooted in classic fairy tales, and rich with the intricacies of the puppeteer’s art, Heather Newton’s novel animates the lives of three complex women.” —Laura Kalpakian, author of Memory into Memoir and These Latter Days
“Heartfelt, intriguing and breathtakingly creative. The Puppeteer’s Daughters proves that happily-ever-afters aren’t always the ending to fairytales—sometimes they’re just the beginning. Heather Newton is a born storyteller, showing us that magic can spill into our everyday lives when we step out of our comfort zones.” —Sarah Addison Allen, New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells and Other Birds
“Perfectly plotted, wonderfully paced, with characters I loved and rooted for page after page.” —Tessa Fontaine, author of The Electric Woman: A Memoir in Death-Defying Acts