thought daughter reading list

From Proust to Ernaux and why I couldn't finish A Little Life

the two topics of todays post are 1) thought daughter core and 2) book recommendations

What is a "Thought Daughter"? If you aren't as immersed in the online world as I am, you might not have encountered this internet term currently trending on TikTok, or at least on my For You page.

Women from all walks of life (including myself) find comfort or relatability in the term. A thought daughter encapsulates a seemingly shared female experience of overthinking, anxiety, mental health issues and dealing with the weight of societal expectations. It has turned into a humorous trend (I guess we all use humour as a way to deal with our trauma), with creators on TikTok sharing their thought girl essentials and videos of them crying with the caption saying pov: your parents accidentally choose a thought daughter. I must confess; that I have never related to a trend more. I grew up as the eldest daughter and often was called an old soul, I read a lot and was oh-so emotional. I used to spend my summers wallowing, finding my only comfort buried in the pages of a book, and as I grow older nothing changes. I find it ironic my mother chose the name Paige for me.

anyway, I want to use this as an excuse to write about some of my all-time favourite books, I hope this will be helpful to someone.

here are my thought-girl reading recommendations

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Steinbeck said that everything he wrote before this book was just practice.

East of Eden is my favourite book of all time. It is an epic multi-generational tale.

Steinbeck’s unparalleled imagery masterfully transports us to the Salinas Valley, vividly painting it in our minds as if we were physically present there.

It’s nostalgic, haunting, and filled with gut-wrenching snippets of wisdom.

- okay now moving on to the thought daughter of all thought daughters -

Marcel Proust

In Search of Lost Time (Volume 1) Swanns Way by Marcel Proust

It's incredibly nostalgic—I love his Proustian memory analogy. He explores the idea of two kinds of memories: voluntary memories, where we intentionally try to recall something, and involuntary memories, where a stimulus unexpectedly triggers a flood of past experiences (like the madeleine in "Swann's Way").

There are seven volumes in total, but I have only read the first one. I read it last summer while working as a nanny in a crumbling castle near Avignon in the South of France. The unique and romantic setting enhanced my enjoyment of the novel, making it feel oddly relatable. I plan to read one volume each summer until I finish the entire series.

I could provide a plot summary, but it’s not really about the plot. "What happens" is almost irrelevant because this is a novel of ideas and concepts. Events unfold solely to convey the author's insights about these ideas, rather than to tell a conventional story with a typical three-act structure.

Hana by Alena Mornštajnová

Alena Mornštajnová is a Czech fiction writer, I discovered this novel while living in Prague and hunting for Czech literature to read. I bought it at an English bookstore in Prague but I will try to find somewhere online that you can buy it from and link it here.

It is a profoundly sad and haunting read, yet also a compelling page-turner. The novel intertwines parallel storylines based on real events, depicting the experiences of a young girl, Mira, her Aunt Hana, and the horrors they endured during WWII and its aftermath.

(sitting in a cafe summer of 2023 in Berlin reading Hana and Bell Hooks)

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

I won't say too much about this novel because I'm almost certain you've already seen it all over TikTok and Goodreads.

I do have a confession to make... I actually couldn't finish this book. However, I still highly recommend it because the writing is incredibly brilliant and detailed. The subject matter is very intense, and I personally couldn’t continue with the novel. But if you have a higher tolerance for these topics, I would pick this one up.

A Girl’s Story by Annie Ernaux

I recently finished this book last week and I have recently purchased The Years - I guess I am on an Annie Ernaux kick. I love a memoir and this novel tells a detailed recollection of her teenage years during the summer of 1958, spent working as a holiday camp instructor in Normandy. That summer included the first night she had sex and the different encounters she had with the boys at that camp that summer.

That summer was a complex and unpleasant experience, with repercussions that lasted for years. It's fascinating to hear her perspective on that period in her life after reflecting on it more than fifty years later. It is raw, moody and filled with emotional turmoil.

( I read this novel while on a train from Paris to Munich)

I could go on and on about books - I hope you enjoyed these recs as much as I enjoyed writing about them!

-Paige

(My sister and I with our books in Prague)