The prose felt a little too purple. She wasn't saying much, but she said it in such an overblown, florally way. "Pretentious" isn't quite the right word, but it's close. There was also way too much that is talked about, but we are never actually shown. The book is about how our author cannot escape "daughterhood," but still we don't really ever see her being a daughter. We are just told she does her daughter duties. Finally, there just wasn't enough story to keep me intrigued. I only finished the book because of my connections to the twin cities and the university english department. As it turns out, writings about a modest normal sheltered middle class midwestern family that has few problems isn't that interesting to read about.