Cursed Daughters: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel
A READ WITH JENNA TODAY SHOW BOOK CLUB PICK • A young woman must shake off a family curse and the widely held belief that she is the reincarnation of her dead cousin in this wickedly funny, brilliantly perceptive novel about love, female rivalry, and superstition from the author of the smash hit My Sister, the Serial Killer (“A bombshell of a book... Sharp, explosive, hilarious"—The New York Times)
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: TIME, NPR, USA TODAY
"A triumph: bold, searing, and utterly original. From the first page, it grips with an electric pulse. . . . Impossible to put down."
—Abi Daré, New York Times bestselling author of Girl with the Louding Voice
When Ebun gives birth to her daughter, Eniiyi, on the day they bury her cousin Monife, there is no denying the startling resemblance between the child and the dead woman. So begins the belief, fanned by the entire family, that Eniiyi is the actual reincarnation of Monife, fated to follow in her footsteps.
There is also the matter of the family curse—“No man will call your house home. And if they try, they will not have peace...”—which has broken numerous hearts and caused three generations of abandoned Falodun women to live under the same roof.
When Eniiyi falls in love, she can no longer run from her family’s history. Is she destined to live out her family's story of love and heartache? Or can she break the pattern, not only avoiding the spiral that led Monife to her lonely death but liberating herself from all the secrets and unspoken traumas that have dogged her steps since before she can remember?
Cursed Daughters is a brilliant cocktail of vibrant humor and hard-won wisdom, romantic love and familial obligation. It asks us what it means to be granted a second chance, and how to live both wisely and well with what we’ve been given.
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: TIME, NPR, USA TODAY
"A triumph: bold, searing, and utterly original. From the first page, it grips with an electric pulse. . . . Impossible to put down."
—Abi Daré, New York Times bestselling author of Girl with the Louding Voice
When Ebun gives birth to her daughter, Eniiyi, on the day they bury her cousin Monife, there is no denying the startling resemblance between the child and the dead woman. So begins the belief, fanned by the entire family, that Eniiyi is the actual reincarnation of Monife, fated to follow in her footsteps.
There is also the matter of the family curse—“No man will call your house home. And if they try, they will not have peace...”—which has broken numerous hearts and caused three generations of abandoned Falodun women to live under the same roof.
When Eniiyi falls in love, she can no longer run from her family’s history. Is she destined to live out her family's story of love and heartache? Or can she break the pattern, not only avoiding the spiral that led Monife to her lonely death but liberating herself from all the secrets and unspoken traumas that have dogged her steps since before she can remember?
Cursed Daughters is a brilliant cocktail of vibrant humor and hard-won wisdom, romantic love and familial obligation. It asks us what it means to be granted a second chance, and how to live both wisely and well with what we’ve been given.
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Community Reviews
This was a really good read. The characters are well developed and the quote “The true power in the curse is not in the magic but in the belief it instills” stands out during the entire book.
This is a story rich in narrative and character detail. I especially liked Braithwaite's use of magical realism rooted in West African beliefs and superstitions.
The family curse—believed to be passed down through the women—serves to symbolize the tension between free will and fate, as well as generational trauma. There are clear instances of struggle with whether the curse has control or whether choices reinforce the curse, suggesting that belief itself can be a powerful force. This curse also highlights the complexities of mother-daughter relationships, showing how fear, love, and inherited pain are passed down alongside cultural traditions. Through this lens, we explore how women navigate identity, autonomy, and expectation within both family and society.
As the title might suggest, this is a bit of a tragedy and the conclusion was left quite open-ended.
A multigenerational read on the impact of a vicious family cycle impacts one's future and mindset. Based on culture and religion, we follow the women and their beliefs on reincarnation and family curses. I enjoyed this read for the way it was laid out, the struggle to overcome negative thoughts and the folklore of mystical and alternate realms. Definitely a fun, BIPOC and female empower read.
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