A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries

By Kaylie Jones

Book Overview

"Although we've gotten used to second-generation actors equaling or surpassing the accomplishments of their parents, the same hasn't happened with second-generation novelist. Nonetheless there are a few . . . and added to their small number ought to be Kaylie Jones." --New York Times

"The daughter of James Jones here offers a discerning, brightly written bildungsroman. She writes with sensitivity and compassion. Highly recommended." --Library Journal

The inspiration for the Merchant Ivory film starring Kris Kristofferson, Barbara Hershey, and Leelee Sobieski, A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries is a rich and poignant family story from the daughter of novelist James Jones. Back in print, this new edition includes an author's introduction reflecting on the process of developing a screenplay from her novel, as well as a previously unpublished chapter, "Mother's Day," that was left out of the original Bantam edition.

Based on the author's early years in Paris with her famous father, A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries chronicles the growth of an extraordinary family. Previously the adored only child, Channe finds her world disrupted by the adoption of a French brother, Benoit. This inspired novel explores the complex, volatile relationship between a brother, a sister, a mother, and a father as they confront their own experiences of orphanhood.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1888451467
• ISBN13: 9781888451467
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Akashic Books, Ltd.
• Length: 203 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

What a book should be.

I found this book to be a refreshing tale which blends the struggle to grow up with the urge to stay a little girl sitting on her father's lap forever. As I read this book, I felt myself being brought into Channe's world, and became part of the Willis family myself. I can't even call A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries a book. It was an experience.

Vivid and moving view of growing up in Paris as an American.

I finished this book two days ago and have been unable to move onto other reading because this one still preoccupies my thoughts so. Like the author and her brother, my brother and I spent part of our childhoods in Paris in the 1970s and shared many of the experiences and settings the author describes. The book does strike me more as a collection of autobiographical stories than as a novel with a single narrative, but whatever its form, it is beautifully written and resonates deeply with me, as I know it would with anyone who has gone through that expatriate experience.

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman

Kaylie Jones is one of the best young writers in the world today. A Soldier's Daughter is a novel that I can recommend to everyone -- particularly anyone who's ever lost a father, a friend, a home. At times sad, often humorous, always honest -- deserving of a National Book Award nomination.

A Masterpiece! Deserving of Literary Awards!

A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries has touched my wife and me in ways no other novel ever has. Scene after scene moved us through emotion after emotion. The storyline is equally heartbreaking and heart-warming. The characters are honest and affecting to the bone. A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries should be a must read for every mother, father, son, daughter, sister or brother!

This is a very heart-felt coming-of-age novel.

This is a very heart-felt coming-of-age novel that acts as a mirror for those of us who grew up in the high-school culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s. This mirror is provided by an American girl who happened to spend most of her life in Paris and suddenly finds herself in the USA. The characters, situations, and thoughtful recreation of the times seem very on-the-mark, and make me want to seek out other works by novelist Kaylie Jones.