Have you ever wanted to have a doll that could talk to you? In the book The Ventriloquist's Daughter, a girl named Liur gets a doll like this. But it doesn't turn out to be as fun as she thought
Lin Man-Chiu, an author from Taiwan, wrote the book. British translator Helen Wang translated it into English. The book tells a touching story about Liur and her father.
Liur loses her mother at a young age. Her grandfather sends her father to a medical school in the US. Five years later, he comes back with a doll named Carola, as he once promised he would. This doll is quite unusual—it can talk! However, Carola makes a lot of problems for the family.
After reading this book, I thought Liur and her father were just unlucky. In fact, this story is based on the author's own unhappy childhood. She had six sisters. Still, her grandfather wanted a grandson. Her father was under heavy pressure and didn't live with her and her sisters for a very long time. The author didn't like her father when she was young. But now she has forgiven him. The talking doll Carola stands for her father's burden （负担）.
After I learned this, I understood the author's main message. Everyone has demons （心魔）in their lives, but we should do our best to beat them.
