Favourite Daughter

A darkly funny debut novel about two estranged sisters unknowingly thrown together by their problematic father’s dying wish. For readers of Emma Straub, Monica Heisey, and Katherine Heiny.

Mickey and Arlo are half-sisters. But they’ve never spoken and never met. Arlo adored her father—but always lived in the shadow of his magnetic personality and burdensome vices.

Mickey never knew her father. He abandoned her and her mother years ago, and Mickey has hated him since. When she receives news of his passing, Mickey is shocked to learn that he’s left her his not inconsiderable fortune. There's just one catch: Mickey must attend a series of therapy sessions before the money can be released.

Unbeknownst to either woman, the psychologist Mickey’s father has ensured she meets with is her half-sister, Arlo. Having cared for her beloved father on his sickbed, Arlo is devastated to discover he’s cut her out of his will. She resolves to learn where the money went and why.

Working together as therapist and patient—with no idea that they’re in fact sisters—Arlo and Mickey soon get under each other’s skin. Arlo, eager to outrun a mistake in her professional past, is keen to redeem herself with her new client. But Mickey is far from the model patient. As Mickey’s personal and professional life spirals out of control, and Arlo uncovers the truth about who her new patient really is, the sisters find themselves on a crash course that will either break—or save—them both.