'Murderer's Daughters' looks at family violence

Lulu's mother told her not to let her father in the apartment, but it's hard for a 10-year-old to say "no" to a parent. So Lulu opened the door and then ran for help as her father stabbed her mother and sister.

Death comes quickly in "The Murderer's Daughter," Randy Susan Meyers' debut novel. Within pages, Lulu's mother is dead, her father is in prison and her 5-year-old sister, Merry, is recovering in a hospital. Then the girls are shuttled rapidly from their grandmother's home to an orphanage to a foster home. Lulu, desperate to leave behind the stigma of being a murderer's daughter, orders Merry to tell everyone their parents died in a car crash -- and shuts herself off from most close relationships. Merry remains devoted to her father, even as she fears him.

Meyers' novel follows Lulu and Merry for three decades after their mother's death, exploring how the crime shaped them, their relationships and their career choices.

The story's premise comes from an incident in Meyers' childhood, according to a release from the publisher. (Her mother survived an attack by her father.) Later events in the novel draw on Meyers' experiences working with victims of domestic violence.

Meyers' writing is dramatic without being overdone, and the plot is eminently plausible. Lulu buries her grief in schoolwork and eventually becomes a successful doctor. She marries the son of an alcoholic who, like Lulu, just wants a peaceful home and a quiet life.

Merry struggles to understand why her father would try to kill her. She loses herself in alcohol and bad relationships and seeks some kind of resolution by working with victims and parolees.

The book skims through several decades, so there's sometimes a sense of jumping into the characters' lives without understanding how they arrived at that point. This is particularly true when Merry goes from being a sweet 12-year-old to a rebellious and sexual 17-year-old. It's never clear what made her change. Instead, it feels like Meyers suddenly decided that Merry must be the foil to Lulu, the good girl and strong survivor.

There is also a lack of evolution among the characters. Lulu eventually visits her father and Merry stops visiting, which seems to be meant as a sign of personal growth for the sisters. But Lulu never forgives her father or shows understanding of his crime, and her relationships continue to seem limited. Merry also ends up without strong relationships, still caught up in a bond with her father.

Perhaps this reflects Meyers' real-world experience with victims who have trouble moving beyond their childhood traumas, but in a novel, it's a disappointing ending.