Like Mother, Like Mother, Susan Rieger
Like Mother, Like Mother, Susan Rieger
List: $22.50 | Sale: $15.75
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Like Mother, Like Mother

Author: Susan Rieger

Narrator: Rebecca Lowman

Unabridged: 10 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/29/2024


Synopsis

An enthralling novel about three generations of strong-willed women, unknowingly shaped by the secrets buried in their family’s past.

“What a delight! Like Mother, Like Mother is sharp, fun, and witty.”—Ann Napolitano, bestselling author of Hello Beautiful

“A sprawling family saga, briskly told with the lightest of touches and an often-surprising sense of humor.”—Rumaan Alam, bestselling author of Leave the World Behind

A VOGUE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Detroit, 1960. Lila Pereira is two years old when her angry, abusive father has her mother committed to an asylum. Lila never sees her mother again. Three decades later, having mustered everything she has—brains, charm, talent, blond hair—Lila rises to the pinnacle of American media as the powerful, brilliant executive editor of The Washington Globe. Lila unapologetically prioritizes her career, leaving the rearing of her daughters to her generous husband, Joe. He doesn’t mind—until he does.

But Grace, their youngest daughter, feels abandoned. She wishes her mother would attend PTA meetings, not White House correspondents’ dinners. As she grows up, she cannot shake her resentment. She wants out from under Lila’s shadow, yet the more she resists, the more Lila seems to shape her life. Grace becomes a successful reporter, even publishing a bestselling book about her mother. In the process of writing it, she realizes how little she knows about her own family. Did Lila’s mother, Grace’s grandmother, die in that asylum? Is refusal to look back the only way to create a future? How can you ever be yourself, Grace wonders, if you don’t know where you came from?

Spanning generations, and populated by complex, unforgettable characters, Like Mother, Like Mother is an exhilarating, portrait of family, marriage, ambition, power, the stories we inherit, and the lies we tell to become the people we believe we’re meant to be.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Karen on November 24, 2024

I enjoyed this multigenerational drama which had its origins in the area around where I live… Detroit, Farmington, and Bloomfield Hills. The story is centered around Lila, the youngest of three children, whose mother disappeared from their lives when they were very young. They were left with an abusi......more

Goodreads review by Bkwmlee on October 27, 2024

This book was a bit of a mixed bag for me. While I did enjoy some aspects of it – for instance, some of the sardonic humor – I didn’t really like majority of the characters (except for Ruth, who was pretty much the only character I was able to connect with). I had initially picked this one up becaus......more

Goodreads review by Stephanie on November 17, 2024

What an interesting premise. A story of a very successful mother Lila, (raised by a monster of a father) who goes onto be one of the most successful news editors in history. She breaks a Watergate like scandal with a very Trumpish like president (I've seen other readers offended, but it's hard to no......more

Goodreads review by Constantine on December 03, 2024

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Literary Fiction In this story, we follow three generations of independent women whose stories are interwoven by the mysteries of their family's history. The book highlights how trauma can be passed down through generations, illustrating that it is not just an individual problem. Li......more

Goodreads review by Sophie on January 06, 2025

It’s 1 AM, my suitcase is empty, and I just finished Like Mother, Like Mother. My flight is in five hours, and instead of packing, I’m sitting here, emotionally wrecked but impressed. I could not put this book down. Priorities. This novel is a fierce, intergenerational saga about ambition, regret, an......more


Quotes

“A novel in the spirit of Meg Wolitzer, Jean Hanff Korelitz, and the great Nora Ephron . . . Who says comedy is dead? It’s all here—incredible characters, joyful satire, a wisecracking newswoman, family secrets with a twist of lime.”—Allegra Goodman, bestselling author of Sam

“What a delight! Lila is a magnificent character, and I could not put this book down. Like Mother, Like Mother is sharp, fun, and witty.”—Ann Napolitano, bestselling author of Hello Beautiful

“The writing in Like Mother, Like Mother trots easily along, and the last 50 or so pages are almost impossible to put down...One of the best aspects of this novel is that, even though much of it takes place in the fraught world of journalism, it’s actually an escape from today’s headlines. It’s a fun immersion into the lives of a loving, well-meaning, smart, and interesting set of people who readers will want to root for.”—The New York Journal

“The best kind of novel: compelling, warm, funny, and complicated, full of kick-ass women in tangled relationships, spanning generations and coming of age again and again. Susan Rieger tackles my favorite subjects: writing, family, and the conditions of unconditional love.”—Laurie Frankel, bestselling author of Family Family

“Phenomenal . . . Susan Rieger’s wise, exhilaratingly moving tale gets to the beating heart of nature versus nurture and the stories we are told versus the stories we need to hear.”—Caroline Leavitt, bestselling author of Days of Wonder

“Susan Rieger gives us perfectly messy, complex, witty characters searching for answers and connection. Long after you finish it, this book will make you think about the stories that shape us, the stories we search for, and what it means to pass them from one generation to the next.”—Jennifer Close, bestselling author of Marrying the Ketchups

“With pungent wit and the fizz of a Tracy-Hepburn comedy, Susan Rieger writes about long-held family secrets and mothers good and bad with warmth and elegance.”Joseph Finder, bestselling author of The Oligarch’s Daughter

“A novel of mothers and daughters, but, even more pressingly, of what it means to investigate past and present and tell stories about what we find . . . It is a direct, unsentimental love letter to journalism, and to the wise, weird women who are so often its beating heart.”—Rebecca Traister, bestselling author of Good and Mad

Like Mother, Like Mother is a rare thing: a sprawling family saga, briskly told. Susan Rieger covers so much with the lightest of touches and a welcome and often-surprising sense of humor.”—Rumaan Alam, bestselling author of Leave the World Behind