Barbara was a good mom and her daughters will miss her. Barbara knew she was dying and wrote her daughters individual letters and a journal so she can still help them after she’s gone. I laughed and cried at times while reading it.

“I’m especially proud of ‘Things I Want My Daughters to Know’,” says Elizabeth Noble of this, her fourth novel. “It’s usually the one I’m just about to write [that’s my favorite]. I love that excitement phase, when the characters and plot are coming together, and you can’t wait to get started.”

In ‘Things I want my Daughters to Know’, Lisa is the oldest daughter. She’s in her thirties and afraid to fully commit to her man. Jennifer is the uptight daughter, trapped in her marriage, yet longing for a child, and so far unable to conceive. Amanda, in her twenties, still has wanderlust and can’t settle down. Hannah, in her teens will miss so much by not having her mom, but she does have her older sisters and her father Mark, the much younger man Barbara married late in life and found so much happiness with.

Elizabeth Noble divides her time between Surrey, England, and New York City. “I love America, but their chocolate is wax,” says Noble. “I miss English newspapers on Sunday morning. I love the speed and pace of New York, 24 hour food delivery, iced water with every meal, the reservoir in Central Park , and doormen.”

Noble wrote the bestsellers ‘The Reading Group’, ‘The Friendship Test’, and ‘Alphabet Weekends’. She has over half million copies of her books in print.

“I love Armistead Maupin, Sebastian Faulks, Anita Shreve, Paullina Simons, Lionel Shriver, Jeffrey Deaver, Dodie Smith, Nancy Mitford, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Willa Cather, Tony Parsons, and a thousand other writers, across a hundred different genres,” says Noble. “I save my favorites for holidays, when I can read relatively uninterrupted, rather than 5 pages at a time at night, before I fall asleep!”

Noble studied at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University, before working in British publishing for several years.

Noble’s use of the letters or journal from a departed loved one has been seen before, - such as in ‘P.S., I Love You’, - but she doesn’t overdo it. She uses the device as a bridge to get back to the current story of each woman’s life and how she’s coping with their mom’s death and her own life. There are only a few passages that feel predictable.

Elizabeth Noble writes with humor and empathy. While reading I felt what each daughter was going through, and my mom is still alive.

Things I want my Daughters to Know, Hardback 384 pages. Publisher: Willam Morrow, (April 8, 2008). Language: English. ISBN- 978-00661122194 $22.95

Gabrielle Pantera is the book reviewer for the British Weekly and a screenwriter.