SOURCE: Wolitzer, Hilma. “Living with a Father's Erratic Will.” Chicago Tribune Books (2 September 1990): 4.

In the following review, Wolitzer examines the father-daughter relationships in Amongst Women.

When Michael Moran informs his grown daughters that the Irish War of Independence was the highlight of his life, they cluck with concern over his lost glory days. They don't take him to task for the personal war he's waged at home at Great Meadow, on the outskirts of Dublin, all of their lives.

Only one of his five children, a son named Luke, has managed to escape the domestic battleground. Luke lives in London, and while he maintains an affectionate relationship with his siblings, he keeps his father at a geographically and emotionally safe distance. The three daughters, Maggie, Sheila and Mona; their younger brother, Michael; and their stepmother, Rose, all remain prisoners, in one way or another, of Moran's erratic will...