I was drawn to this book for a number of reasons. I connected with the Detroit setting, and one of the protagonists was close to exactly my age. And I'm always a sucker for books about motherhood. When I started reading, I was a bit put off by the style, as characters often seemed to give speeches to each other in describing their lives, their feelings, etc. But once I got used to this way of writing, I was quite enthralled by the story and the storytelling. I found the characters as mostly flawed but still worthy of love (with one or two notable exceptions) and the three section setup really worked for me. I liked the way the book started with the death of a main character then built the rest of the narrative around her, her family of origin, her career, her husband, and her children. I also thought the connections to "real world" events was well-crafted. This is a book I'll recommend to readers who are drawn to multi-generational family stories.

Thank you Random House for the ARC!

3 generations of mother/daughter drama? Multiple perspectives? Lit fic? This should have checked all the boxes for me!

While I wanted to love it so much, I struggled with being bored the first 25% or so. I wish less time was spent talking about the magazine and politics and more time focused on THE FAMILY.

I think releasing a politically heavy book with a clear political lean with real names being used a week before an election was a poor choice. Reading about politics is the last thing I want to do right now as I'm reading to escape the non-stop political news.

Maybe it would have been better to release at a different time or leave out the politics. Sad because otherwise such a great story!

There are great books about multi-generations within one family. Hello Beautiful, Blue Sisters, heck...even Little Women. Like Mother, Like Mother should be added to that list.

Recently retired from her job as executive editor at the Washington Globe, Lila Pereria has passed away, Her youngest daughter Grace has just published a novel based on Lila's life. Lila was raised by an abusive father, and was told that her mother, Zelda, had died. Lile didn't have the maternal influence and maternal desire and that reflected in her own parenting of her daughters.

Weaving the past and present, this is the story of complex motherhood. Of being a working woman, of being a mom, of being a daughter. It's about the family you are born in and the one you create.

I found the writing riveting and lush. I wanted to know more about Lila, more about Grace...and really, more about Zelda.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Like Mother Like Mother

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A beautiful book examining a family of female lead characters, following generational trauma and related challenges, and its recurring effects, as well as a pursuit for a different future. While this may not be a unique concept, it was deftly drafted by Ms. Rieger with characters that are acutely aware of their flaws and challenges, and in every other facet of life, are accomplished and successful. Further, it begs the question as to whether knowledge of our upbringing and past (true or not), shapes our goals and plans for the future. Fans of authors like Ann Napolitano and Emma Straub would enjoy this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Ms. Rieger for the opportunity to read an advanced reader copy of this book.

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE MOTHER by Susan Rieger is a multigenerational family drama that checked so many of my boxes. With themes of motherhood, marriage, and complicated mother/daughter relationships, it should have been my ideal book. Sadly, I didn’t mesh particularly well with the author’s style of writing. The novel is broken into three parts, and I think part two is what really soured my overall opinion about this book. There was so much random filler—just too many unnecessary details. All three parts had sections like this, but part two is where my interest really waned, and I even skimmed some sections. Also, there are a lot of characters in this novel that I found a tad excessive. However, the author does get a few extra bonus points for including a character list, which I referred to often. I did appreciate the hint of mystery throughout this story, which also included a touch of hope. Even with my few minor issues, I still recommend that you give this novel a go. It has some great bones, and a satisfying ending.

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Family drama and dynamics
- Sisterhood
- Mother/daughter relationships
- Motherhood and marriage
- Journalist lifestyle
- Feminist undertones
- Politically-charged storylines
- Character-driven novels
- Slow-moving plot lines
- Mystery and intrigue
- DNA/genetic testing

If you enjoyed novels like Hello Beautiful or Blue Sisters, this one might pique your interest as well. LIKE MOTHER, LIKE MOTHER releases on October 29th! I give it 3.5/5 stars.

I am still thinking about this one. Absolutely fantastic read. I don’t want to spoil a thing, but this is a family saga of the highest magnitude. The book pretty much centers on Lila and her family. Lila wasn’t the mother the girls wanted, or the wife Joe wanted, but they all had strong feelings for her. When Lila leaves the family, they go on a quest to find Lila’s mother, and see if history does indeed repeat itself.

I highly recommend this one!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

Took a bit to get going, but it was so worth the read. The story was fully developed, and the characters were realistic. I became totally emuursed in the book and didn't want to put it down to even go to the restroom. I carried it everywhere with me.

Highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy of this multi generational women's story. We are being told the story of 3 generations of women a Grandmother, Mother and Daughter. We go on this journey with them and their family secrets, and I found Lila's story to be the most interesting. The story is told mostly thru dialogue, which I did find a little distracting after awhile. But overall the mystery of this family held my interest and its a lovely story to be told.

If intergenerational stories are your thing, then you'll probably be drawn to the three generations of women in Susan Rieger's Like Mother, Like Mother. But what draws you in won't keep you there, unfortunately. I received a free e-ARC to review.

The novel is divided into three parts. The first part is Lila's. The second part is Grace's, Lila's daughter. And Lila's mother, Zelda, gets the third part.

Essentially, Lila's mother was institutionalized when Lila was a baby, and then Lila was told her mother had died a few years later. But Lila never saw a grave or a death certificate. Growing up without a mother in an abusive household certainly influenced how Lila parented her own three children. While her older two daughters had each other and didn't need their mom as much, her younger daughter, Grace, longed for more mothering. When Lila passes, she makes a final request of Grace: find out what really happened to Zelda.

One of the things I did not like about this book was that it's not told in any sort of order. It's all over the place. If it had been a typical chronological order with some flashbacks thrown in, then I think the story would have worked. I would have liked the characters. I would have enjoyed the mystery of what happened to Zelda and how her disappearance affected Lila and, therefore, Lila's children.

Another thing I didn't like was the dialogue. The whole book is basically just long conversations between characters (of which there are many - the who's who in the front of the book would have been more helpful to refer to in a physical copy as opposed to my digital ARC), and half the time, it didn't feel like the characters were talking TO each other but more AT each other. It's a book of talkers, not listeners.

I stuck through this one because I really did want to know how it ended, and it was pretty fast-paced with all that talking. But this is not one that I'd recommend you go out and buy right away. Maybe check it out from the library first if you're really interested in it.

Story of three generations of women.Lila and her two siblings are raised by an abusive father after he has their
mother committed to an asylum and later told she has died, The loss of her mother affects how Lila deals with
relationships. When she has childrem, she leaves their raising to her husband, more focused on her career.
Her daughter Grace has a complicated relationship with her mother. Grace has mixed feelings when she
writes a book loosely based on family. The latter part of the book reveals what really happened tp Lila's
mother Zelda and the changes and challenges the information presents.
Character driven novel, compelling read.
#LikeMotherLikeMother #RandomHouse #NetGalley

Simply an incredible multi-generational family saga. It's riveting from start to finish, from stories told over generations and how we interpret them today. As mothers, we do what we think is best in every situation including relationships with husbands and children. These mothers, sisters and daughters are intelligent, coy and full of wonder as they unearth long held secrets.

Thank you, Random House Publishing Group - Random House | The Dial Press

𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: #𝟳𝟭
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Fans of Claire Lombardo or Catherine Newman would feel right at home in Susan Rieger’s compelling new novel, a multigenerational story of three strong, driven women, and what is passed through the years in a robust combination of nature and nurture.
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At the center of this is Lila Pereira, a brilliant and powerful executive editor of the Washington Globe, who feels like a cross between Katherine Graham and Martha Stewart. A woman who loves her children but acknowledges she’s not the mothering type. Her own childhood was marred by abuse and violence culminating in her father committing her mother to an institution and Lila and her siblings never seeing her again.
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Lila, now has three daughters of her own, and it’s the youngest, Grace who is the other focus of the narrative, an ambitious journalist who struggles to capture her mother’s attention. Rieger’s characters are witty and smart with dialogue that crackles between them. Both funny and moving, the book’s spine threads in a mystery that ties these generations together to a satisfying conclusion, and it’s no surprise the book has been optioned for television by Universal Content Productions.
“Like Mother, Like Mother” will be out Tuesday, 10/29

A wonderful book about the power of family, love and sibling rivalry. Also about the power of misunderstanding another person.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.*

It took me a while to get into this book, I'm not sure why. But once I did, I was into it.

Like Mother, Like Mother is the a family saga - it looks at abandonment, self sacrifice, and selfishness versus self-preservation. It is the story of two a family marked by abandonment/disappearance of one mother and the subsequent steely non-presence of another.

The writing style of this novel isn't like anything I've read before but I'm not sure I know how to describe it other than it was told in almost a factual way instead of emotional. That's not to say that it's void of emotion but it's just not upfront. This novel unravels by telling the story of the Periera/Meier family. Lila is a force to be reckoned with from the time she was young until she retires from her job. She was ahead of her time in being honest about what she wanted out of motherhood and what she could handle. Thank goodness she found Joe and he was more than happy to be her partner. Together they raise a family but for one of their daughters, Grace, Lila choosing work always rubs her the wrong way. What she doesn't realize is that she's a lot like Lila. There's also a family mystery that Grace choses to investigate, which rounds out the story.

When I started the book and saw the list of characters, I had an uh-oh moment and wondered how I would remember everyone without constantly referring to the list. Surprisingly, I rarely had to look at the list and most of the characters were well-developed that I recognized them each time they were brought up. I also found the latter half of the book spoke to me more than the beginning – especially when Grace tris to uncover the truth about her grandmother, Zelda.

The focus of the book is three generations of women. Lila Pereira, an executive editor of a major Washington newspaper. Zelda is the mother of Lila Peria. Zelda was committed to an asylum by her abusive husband when Lila is just two years old. The environment that Lila grew up in is heartbreaking, having to constantly deal with her father’s abuse. Lila grows up thinking her mother died in the institution. The third main character is Grace. Grace is the third child of Lila. Lila was never a true mother to Grace and primarily focused on her career. Grace grew up being raised by her father and a series of nannies.

Grace has spent most of her life feeling neglected and resentful towards her mother and is driven to write a “fictionalized” book about her mother, that may be closer to the truth than others may realize. Grace also indicates in her fictional account that Zelda is still alive, especially since no one has ever been able to confirm her death beyond her abusive husband.

Grace’s relationship with her mother is very different from anything I ever experienced. It makes you wonder about the impact of trauma and its ability to carry over to future generations.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for and honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

#NetGalley #LikeMotherLikeMother, #SusanRieger

Mother daughter relationships are complicated in so many ways. This book demonstrates the struggle of working women, and the challenging relationships between mothers and daughters.

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE MOTHER takes a complicated idea, and then tangles it up further by adding in so many characters that even a list doesn’t help sort them out. The idea: that generations of exceptionally bright women are incapable of maternal love despite having no real contact between them. The suggestion is that somehow DNA carries this trait that fails to nurture children or abandons them. The plot is fascinating but so very hard to follow because of all the siblings, cousins, daughters, almost-twins and who-all tossed in the mix. There were times I just wanted to give up. So, yes, the story is good but very hard to follow. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Like Mother, Like Mother is a story about relationships and people who are unapologetically themselves even if it makes them unlikable to the reader. Motherhood features a lot in the story, but more in an emotionally distant sense and not so much in the traditional sense.

The novel tackles some heavy, difficult topics, so it’s not a light or easy read by any means. But the depth of the story is gripping. It’s divided into three parts, each focusing on Lila, Grace, and Zelda, with Grace’s pseudo tell-all acting as one of the catalysts that sets the plot in motion. Each woman brings her own perspective and baggage, giving us a layered look at how their choices and secrets reverberate across generations.

What makes this story so compelling is how it explores identity and ambition within the context of family secrets. Everyone is chasing something, whether it's success, freedom, or their own sense of self, and they are willing to make difficult decisions, even if it means breaking away from the roles they’re supposed to play. The message is clear: everyone has choices, and sometimes, those choices are about survival, even when they come at a cost to the people closest to you.

It’s a rich, emotionally charged novel that won’t be for everyone, but one that for me is unique.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House/The Dial Press for the ARC

Brilliant, resilient Lila Pereira, whose father beat her and her siblings and whose mother was committed to a psychiatric institution where she supposedly died when Lila was two, meets wealthy, smart, kind Joe in college. They fall in love, marry, and have three children. Lila leaves the parenting to Joe, a successful attorney, while she runs the fictional Washington Globe and brings down a corrupt U.S., President. Grace, her youngest daughter, writes a best-selling fictional account of their family that surmises that Lila’s mother didn't die. After Lila’s death, Grace investigates her grandmother. This is a clever, fast-paced, nuanced family tale with winning, well-developed characters. Each character’s flaws as well as their strengths invigorate the novel's focus on family dynamics, friendship, and love.