Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

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

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

October 2024; The Dial Press; 978-0525512493
audio, ebook, print (336 pages); women's fiction

Like Mother, Like Mother follows the women in three generations of a family and looks at mothers and the effects that they have on their children and on future generations.

Zelda lived in an abusive relationship in the 1960s and one day she just disappeared.  Lila, 2 years old, was told that her mother was in an institution and later was told that her mother had died.  Her father, a hateful person, took his abuse out on Lila and she often took the punishments for her siblings.  When Lila graduates from college she has decided that she wants to be a news reporter.  She goes way beyond her original goal and ends up as the powerful executive editor of The Washington Globe.  As she was working her way up the ladder, she married Joe, a very rich man, and they had three children.  Lila never prioritized her children in her life.  Her job was more important than anything else and she left her three daughters to mainly be raised by Joe and nannies.  The oldest two daughters understood why their mother put her job first and accepted their life as it was.  The youngest, Grace, wanted a real mom - one who came to PTA meetings and teacher conferences.  She is so resentful of her mother that she tells her dad that she hates her mom.  Grace's feelings don't really bother Lila.  There's always another story to chase or scandal to uncover.  Grace becomes a reporter and writes a thinly veiled book about her mother.   As she writes the book, Grace realizes how little she knows about her family, especially her grandparents.  She doesn't really believe that Zelda is dead and plans to talk to her grandfather to see if she can find out more information about her grandmother. How can you ever be yourself, Grace wonders, if you don’t know where you came from?   

This well written book is full of interesting characters.  At times, it's difficult to like Lila but then when you look at her past, you realize why she lives her life like she does.  Joe, her husband is a real saint and takes complete responsibility for raising their three girls.  Grace was very resentful but at the same time very understanding of her mother.  She is the only one in the family who wants to find out about her grandparents and to learn more about the family's past.

This book looks at three generations of women - Zelda who disappeared from her family, Lila who never learned how to parent  and throws herself into her work and Grace who just wants to understand her mother. It's is a portrait of family, marriage, ambition, power, love and forgiveness and looks at why people become what they believe they are meant to be.  

Buy Like Mother, Like Mother at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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