Favorite Daughter

In Dick’s hard-hitting debut, two half sisters who have never met are thrown together by their late father’s final wishes. Kindergarten teacher Mickey Morris, 33, struggles to make it through the day without a drink. Her addiction to alcohol is the only thing she took from her dad, from whom she was estranged for years. His younger daughter, Arlo Fink, held a sunnier view of him, and cared for him in his final days while trying to get her therapy practice back on track after a patient died by suicide. Now, Mickey is shocked to find out their father has left her $5.5 million. The only stipulation is that she attend seven therapy sessions with Arlo (neither is initially aware of her relation to the other). Mickey fulfills the request, and as Arlo, devastated to be cut out of their father’s will, figures out what’s going on, she’s torn over whether to tell Mickey the truth, or use the sessions to convince Mickey she doesn’t deserve the money. The story hits hilarious highs and devastating lows as the two women grapple with the destructive ways they’ve coped with their father’s noxious legacy. The result is charming, cringe-inducing, and poignant in equal measure. Agent: Jemima Forrester, David Higham Assoc. (Apr.)