The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers

I picked this book up at a sale. I read the synopsis on the back and thought it sounded interesting. 

"Lulu and Merry’s childhood was never ideal, but on the day before Lulu’s tenth birthday their father drives them into a nightmare. He’s always hungered for the love of the girl’s self-obsessed mother. After she throws him out, their troubles turn deadly.

Lulu’s mother warned her to never let him in, but when he shows up, he’s impossible to ignore. He bullies his way past ten-year-old Lulu, who obeys her father’s instructions to open the door, then listens in horror as her parents struggle. She runs for help and discovers upon her return that he’s murdered her mother, stabbed her sister, and tried to kill himself.

For thirty years, the sisters try to make sense of what happened. Their imprisoned father is a specter in both their lives, shadowing every choice they make. Though one spends her life pretending he’s dead, while the other feels compelled to help him, both fear that someday their imprisoned father’s attempts to win parole may meet success.

The Murderer’s Daughters is narrated in turn by Merry and Lulu. The book follows the sisters as children, as young women, and as adults, always asking how far forgiveness can stretch, while exploring sibling loyalty, the aftermath of family violence, and the reality of redemption. "

Very well written and flows fairly quickly - partly because once you start, it's hard to put down. As you read about the lives of these young girls you struggle with them, you empathize with the one that refuses to acknowledge her father and you also empathize with the one that can't turn loose of her father. The control he has over the years and his lack of repentance or sorrow controls for years to come.  

If you want to be challenged about your feelings on forgiveness, on blame, on the raw emotion of children caught in the chaos of an action by their protectors  read "The Murderer's Daughters" by Randy Susan Meyers. It will give you much to ponder.

When asked "why" she wrote "The Murderer's Daughter" Randy Susan Meyers answered:

"When my sister was eight, my mother warned her against letting my father into our Brooklyn apartment. Perhaps she also cautioned me, but I was barely five and can’t remember. Years later, as adults, when my sister and I began exploring our childhood in the way siblings do—comparing scars and recollections, piling up wrongs and shining up the funny stories—my sister said:
“Remember when I let our father in the house and he tried to kill Mom?”

She swears I was there (where else would I be at that age?) but I didn’t remember any of it. As the years went by, and my sister fed me more details, the scene rooted in my mind and became my memory also. I heard my father sweet-talking his way in. My mother’s screams echoed."

To read more of her interesting story check out her web site  H.E.R.E.