Daughter’s Keeper by Ayelet Waldman

Published by

Sarah Ann

on

November 21, 2010

Daughter’s Keeper is the first standalone novel by Ayelet Waldman, who also wrote the Mommy Track mystery series.

In this one, a young, ambitious woman named Olivia is working hard to support her boyfriend, Jorge. Jorge is an illegal immigrant. He has a difficult time getting work anywhere, even as a day-laborer.

Olivia herself is fluent in Spanish and highly educated. It’s not long before she starts second-guessing her relationship with Jorge, and whether he’s worth jumping through all these hoops for.

Jorge then gets involved in a major drug deal to generate more income, but it’s an actually an undercover operation set up by the DEA, and both Olivia and Jorge are busted. Suddenly, Olivia is faced with the possibility of spending several years in prison.

The good news is that there’s a lot more than this gong on in Daughter’s Keeper, which turns out to be a terrific story. I like how it questions whether “doing the right thing” is truly the right thing in some circumstances.

Olivia was not doing the right thing. Jorge was knowingly breaking the law, and they both knew it. He chose to enter the U.S. illegally, instead of going through the appropriate legal process to become a citizen. So why did Olivia choose to support and help Jorge when she didn’t necessarily love him? It didn’t bode well for her.

Daughter’s Keeper was a phenomenal book, and it was so good I devoured it in under 10 hours.

Ayelet Waldman has also written these books:

What are your thoughts about Daughter’s Keeper?

Last Updated on January 27, 2026 by Sarah Ann

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