My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Daisy is trying to hold onto the life she has, but each and every day sees her losing her grip on it just a little bit. And when the worst of things happen, when tragedy strikes, she has to decide whether she sinks or swims. Or, to be fair, it’s not a question of decision. She really doesn’t know whether she can survive this.
Guilt is the hardest of things.
Earle’s powerful, precise prose makes this an almost unbearably hooky read. I couldn’t stop. It’s shot throughout with an ineffable truth. Despite the horrors of what happens to Daisy, and there are some very dark pained moments, I didn’t stop believing. That’s a credit to the simple, judgeless narrative and oh god, how you want her to get through this.
I have a lot of time for books like this which face up to the dark shadowy pain-filled moments of life. I think that’s so vital in our literature and to do it with the quiet simplicity of Earle? I think that’s rather vital. In ‘Saving Daisy’ he has that most iconic of things, the troubled heroine, but he shifts it so well away from cliche. I believed this book. Even though I didn’t want to, I really rather did. ‘Saving Daisy’ is a very worthy introduction to an honest, gutsy writer.
Daisy May Johnson 