SEAN EADS
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Add "daughter" to your title and get a book deal!

2/19/2014

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Being a librarian, I pretty much have no choice but to notice the occasional trend in book publishing. Of particular note the last few years is the number of titles with the word "daughter" in them. In fact it seems like the title of every other book on the market uses the same boring construct: The [Insert Job Profession]’s Daughter. I'll review for those following at home:

  • The Bonesetter’s Daughter (2001)
  • The Abortionist’s Daughter (2006)
  • The Apothecary’s Daughter (2008)
  • The Memory Keeper’s Daughter (2005)
  • The Coven’s Daughter (2011)
  • The Headhunter’s Daughter (2011)
  • The Heretic’s Daughter (2008)
  • The Demon Trapper’s Daughter (2011)
  • The Pope’s Daughter (2005)
  • The Lightkeeper’s Daughter (2009)
  • The Witch’s Daughter (2011)
  • The Butterfly’s Daughter (2011)
  • The Hangman’s Daughter (2010)
  • The Paramour’s Daughter (2010)
  • The Gerbil Farmer’s Daughter (seriously?) (2009)
  • The Fecund’s Melancholy Daughter (no, I mean it—seriously?) (2011)
  • The Tyrant's Daughter (2014)
  • Worthy Brown's Daughter (2014)
  • The Farmer's Daughter (2014)
  • The Bloodletter's Daughter (2012)
  • The Housemaid's Daughter (2013)
  • The Kingmaker's Daughter (2013)
  • Spiderwoman's Daughter (2013)
  • The Scavenger's Daughter (2013)

Trust me, I could list another 800 titles. Daughters, daughters everywhere, all the titles did shriek!

The predominance of XX chromosomal offspring in book titles is really staggering. What about the XYs? Don’t fictional people have sons anymore? (To be fair, The Pope’s Daughter and The Gerbil Farmer’s Daughter are actually about real people, so they’re somewhat off the hook).
 
So what’s going on here? I want to blame Amy Tan for starting the trend, but maybe it was Loretta Lynn, the Coal Miner’s Daughter. I should have changed The Survivors to The Survivor's Daughter. I probably would have won the Lambda Literary Award instead of just being a finalist. But that's me--always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Or the daughter, for that matter.

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    Sean Eads is a writer living in Denver, CO. Originally from Kentucky, he works as a reference librarian.

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