by Sofia Grant
“If ‘check on the dog’ is still a euphemism for what we did the last time your mom came to visit, I’m in,” Jam growled, nuzzling a spot under her ear.
“Quick—the coast is clear,” Katie said, and hand in hand they ran, laughing, through a beautiful East Texas morning toward the rest of their lives.
Author’s Note
The explosion that ripped through the New London School in 1937 was all too real, as was the devastation it left in its aftermath. The Daisy Children, however, exist only in my imagination. I created these mothers and their “replacement” children to both honor all those who found a way to go on in the face of unimaginable loss, and to keep bright the memory of all those who perished.
P.S. Insights, Interviews & More . . .*
About the Author
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Meet Sofia Grant
About the Book
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Story Behind the Book
Reading Group Guide
Family Tree
About the Author
Meet Sofia Grant
SOFIA GRANT has the heart of a homemaker, the curiosity of a cat, and the keen eye of a scout. She works from an urban aerie in Oakland, California.
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About the Book
Story Behind the Book
A number of years ago I happened on a nonfiction account of the 1937 London, Texas, school explosion. I’d never heard the story before, and despite the horror of the event, I found myself thinking about it often in the days that followed. I was fascinated by the idea that this wealthy oil-boom county lost an entire generation of children, and wondered how the families left behind coped with such devastating loss.
I became a little obsessed with the story, so much so that I traveled to Texas two summers ago to tour the tiny museum, talk to the locals, visit the monument, and—most affectingly—spend time in the cemetery, where row after row of headstones bear the same date, the stone lambs and angels weathered by time. I knew that I wanted to explore this chapter of history through fiction, but as so often happens when I write stories inspired by actual events, it was the question of what happened after the event that haunted me. History has left us many accounts of the minutes and hours leading up to the fateful spark of a power drill in the shop in the basement of the school, where deadly gas had gone undetected. And the devoted volunteers at the museum have assembled artifacts and ephemera that bring to life the days that followed, as the entire world grieved along with Rusk County, Texas.
But after that, the trail grows cold. No one could blame the heartbroken town for not chronicling the years of grief, the empty seats at dinner tables across town, the silent ball fields and idle school buses. I found no accounts of the birthdays observed in private sorrow, of scout uniforms and school papers and favorite toys packed away in attics. A new school was built. The oil industry thrived a little longer. Fortunes were made and lost, until the boom years too receded into history, and Rusk County settled into the modest economy that sustains it to this day.
The Daisy Club in this story is pure fiction. I don’t know if the mothers of the children born after the tragedy gathered together, separated and insulated from the bereft—or whether these “replacement” babies grew up sensing that they were meant to heal invisible wounds. I do know, however, that tragedy seeps down through generations, its effects outlasting even the memories of those who were there. And I know that my words are as faithful to the palette of grief as I could make them.
Also—there is joy. Sometimes, the most broken of human souls clamor the loudest for redemption, and the characters in this book—well-meaning, all of them—love as hard as they are able, despite their scars. Caroline, Margaret, Georgina, Katie, Scarlett—each mother wished the best for her daughter, and each daughter tried her hardest to escape the shadow of history and hold fast to the lives they created.
The details of the town of New London—its streets and shops, its backyards and stoplights—are all made up, as are the names of characters and places. Please forgive me that indulgence; it allowed me to let my imagination take the lead.
When I finished writing The Daisy Children, I felt as though I could finally put the tragedy to rest. I no longer lie awake at night wondering how the citizens of New London, Texas, found the will to go on. There’s been another development, as well: my own daughter just graduated from college, and I’m discovering that my love for this young woman has deepened and changed and grown even as I wonder where the cherished child has gone.
A mother’s job is never done. The child takes root in her mother’s soul, and her presence is eternal. She changes her parents in ways that can’t be reversed. I feel privileged to know the story of the New London explosion, its victims and its survivors, the courage and love that helped them survive.
Reading Group Guide
The New London School explosion was almost unthinkably tragic. What modern-day events have devastated communities in America? How you think advancements in technology, as well as changes in social conventions, might affect the way people react?
Many details about the events of that terrible afternoon in 1937 were taken directly from first-person accounts (the drillers bringing their equipment to dig for victims, the loaves of bread abandoned on the ground, the displaced rage of parents at those whose children survived). Can any broad conclusions be drawn about people reacting to disaster?
Katie has the “perfect life” in Boston, at least on the surface. What choices did she make after leaving Texas—and did these choices serve her well?
How did Katie’s unconventional childhood affect her friendships? Her attitude about her distant family, including Scarlett? Her relationships with men?
We know from Euda’s letters that Caroline was unable to conceive another child. Does this justify the sacrifice she asked Euda to make, given that Euda already had three other children? What did Caroline owe her in exchange?
Hugh remembered Euda’s children in his will. Caroline made a deathbed request of Margaret to take care of them. Why were they unable to be more generous while they were alive?
Margaret makes a rash decision to end her engagement and marry Hank. What do you suppose motivated that choice?
Before Hank’s death, Margaret is trying to get him some psychological help. What do you think is wrong with him? Was his death suicide?
Margaret never dates again after losing Hank. Georgina, on the other hand, dates everyone. What accounts for the difference?
An underlying theme of the novel is class tension. How did this affect the Daisy mothers—and does it persist in the modern story line?
Katie’s relationship with her mother has echoes of Georgina’s relationship with her own mother: squabbling, a struggle for independence, rejection of established values. And yet, Katie manages to remain close to Georgina. Why was that not possible for Georgina and Margaret? Or, for that matter, Margaret and Caroline?
The men with the biggest roles in the story—Hugh Pierson, Hank Dollar, and Jam Mifflin—could not be more different from one another. How has tragedy shaped each of them?
Did you see Liam’s betrayal coming? Do you think he and Katie ever really loved each other? Does she hold some responsibility in the breakup of their marriage?
Jam Mifflin arrives in Katie’s life at a most unexpected time. Do you think they have a happy future together?
Family Tree
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Also by Sofia Grant
The Dress in the Window
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
P.S.TM is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE DAISY CHILDREN. Copyright © 2018 by Sophie Littlefield. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Cover photographs © Mark Owen/Trevillion Images (woman); ©djgis/Shutterstock (daisies); ©marchello74/Shutterstock (texture); ©Nik Merkulov/Shutterstock (texture).
FIRST EDITION
Digital Edition AUGUST 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-269345-7
Version 05232018
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-269344-0
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