firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!

unfortunately, dnf @10% — typically i love generational stories but i was just not immersed in the writing. maybe i’ll pick this up again one day

Three generations of strong women and the ties and trials of motherhood. The novel mostly centers around the life of newspaper editor Lila Pereira. A trailblazer in journalism, she’s overcome a lot to get to this point — including an abusive father and a mother locked away in an asylum decades before, all the way to sacrificing events in her own children’s lives for work. Lila’s youngest daughter Grace feels left behind and ignored. When she writes a book about her family through pseudonyms, she subsequently also opens Pandora’s box with rhetoric question - did her grandmother really die in that asylum or did she escape and abandon her family?
While this novel took a bit to get into, it really took off for me halfway through and then I couldn’t put it down. It was full of the heart and grief that comes with complex family ties. I thought the author did a great job giving each woman her own section to explore her story throughout multiple timelines while still tying everything together at the end and within each section.
Thank you to Random House Publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

A memorable multi-generational story that thoughtfully provides a list of characters at the beginning. There are three sections: one for each generation of mother/daughters. The book begins with Lila, the middle generation. Her mother, Zelda, was committed to an insane asylum when Lila was two. Lila grew up in an abusive home which made her resilient, tough, and not particularly nurturing. Lila becomes a no-nonsense editor at a nationally-known newspaper.

Section two focuses on Grace, Lila’s third child. Grace is critical of her famous mother even though the two are very much alike. Grace also pursues a career in journalism, while writing poorly disguised auto-fiction titled “The Lost Mother.”

The final section is about Zelda, the missing grandmother. Throughout the novel runs the undercurrent of what happened to Zelda. Did she die at the asylum as her abusive husband contends? Or upon release, did she choose to abandon her children and begin life under a new name? Grace takes on the mission to resolve the family mystery.

This well-written novel wrestles with the definition of a ‘good mother.’ Lila, Grace, and Zelda are complex, memorable characters. At the same time, I found the contrast in fathers (e.g. Aldo, Joe, Xander, and Bobby Lee) to be equally worthy of discussion. A great choice for book clubs.

I loved the writing style of this novel, the way it flowed and gave information but was lyrical as well. It reminded me of Fredrick Bachman and Ann Napolitano, both writers whom I adore. There were a couple times that I would have liked the characters to speak a bit more directly - more than once I thought to myself, "no one speaks like this," but I enjoyed the writing so much it ultimately didn't matter.

I LOVED the character of Lila, and was glad the largest section of the book was devoted to her. She is a knockout of a character. While deeply flawed, I felt you got to understand her and her motivations in a way that you didn't as much for the other two sections involving Grace and Zelda. Grace came off like a spoiled brat for the bulk of the book, but the section focused on her helped ease some of my annoyance.

This would have been a five star read for me except I felt the ending section focused on Zelda suffered a bit. I could not connect to that character, and I wished that things were more direct in that part. I also felt like the lessons about motherhood were murkier in that section. Overall, I think this had a lot to say about parenting and familial relationships, and what it means to be a mother. A truly lovely cast of characters (I was especially grateful for the time we spent with Ruth, although it would have been interesting to hear more from the Starbirds as well).

Multigenerational family drama across the decades...I'm definitely intrigued by this type of story. I found the heavy dialogue-written style appealing, but largely the characters were pretty unlikable in my opinion. Some of that was definitely purposeful, some perhaps not. There are lots of layers to this story and it left a lot to reflect upon.
The audio version was done pretty well and did not detract from the storyline.
Like others, I felt the Author's Note was pretty sloppily done in terms of giving credit to various other authors. If there's a quote here and there...especially of something well known, I can see it, but when your characters' dialogues are so often formed by things you borrowed from other people, I just question why you didn't branch out and try to write more on your own. Rieger is both a writer and a lawyer after all. Her comments just seemed a little flippant to me.
Thanks to NetGalley and The Dial Press for this ARL. All opinions are mine.

I really enjoyed this book. It was very thought-provoking about how we conduct our lives and how we are influenced by thosewho raise us. A real gem.

The multi-generational story of three women set in the Detroit area where I happen to live. Loved the nods to Detroit and the background of three strong woman over the years.

Positives:
The strong character of Lila who defied the gender traditions and expectations of the time to have a career in journalism while also making her a terrible mother
The relationship of the mothers and daughters were well developed and complicated
I liked Lila's storyline the most even though she was not a particularyl likeable or sympathetic character.
Family drama at its best

Negatives:
I did think parts toward the end were a bit drawn out and I skimmed a bit.

The character chart and family relationships in the beginning of the book were helpful and I referred to those often.

"Like Mother, Like Mother" by Susan Rieger is a compelling and multigenerational family saga that delves into the complexities of mother-daughter relationships, ambition, and the secrets that shape our lives. The story begins with the death of Lila Pereira, a powerful media executive, and spans three generations of strong-willed women.⠀
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Lila's rise to the pinnacle of American media comes at a cost—she leaves the rearing of her daughters to her husband, Joe. This decision leaves her youngest daughter, Grace, feeling abandoned and resentful.
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Grace, a successful reporter, publishes a bestselling book about her mother, only to realize how little she knows about her family's past.
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Rieger skillfully weaves together past and present, exploring themes of abandonment, survival, and the enduring impact of familial bonds. The characters are richly developed, each grappling with their own flaws and desires.
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For me, this novel challenges traditional notions of motherhood, presenting Lila as a flawed but deeply human character whose unorthodox approach to parenting leaves a lasting mark on her daughters.
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Rieger's sharp storytelling and vivid characterizations make this a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant read.

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 abusive father who regularly beat Lila. They were told that their father put their mother in a local insane asylum ..that she was crazy. ( But did he really?)
As the kids grew up, Lila having children of her own, there are signs that maybe their mother just left them and they’re in lies the mystery.
I enjoyed these characters, their story, the dialogue..
It is very much a story of how the traits of the mother are often passed down to the daughters. I was always looking forward to picking up the book again to keep up on their lives.

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

This was an enjoyable multigenerational novel that had great parts and some that just didn’t fit. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc.

thank you to netgalley for the e-arc. this was a perfect, sprawling generational story with a unique premise. there's books about women being committed but it's rarely ever from a perspective other than the person "imprisoned". i thought the writing was realy good and the story moved at a nice pace.

I wanted to love this one so much but I just could not get into it sadly. I know several people that loved it, but it just wasnt for me.

The premise of this book sounded right up my alley. I love multigenerational sagas and complicated family relationships, especially between mothers and daughters, but the execution fell flat for me. I think my issue was that the story mostly focused on Grace, but I found her the least interesting between her, Lila, and Zelda so the story really dragged in the middle third. Grace's part also included a lot of her friend Ruth which felt like filler because she's basically just a really fleshed out side character. My favorite parts were Lila's when they talk about politics and her investigative journalism even though the tone read a bit snobby and pretentious at times. I would have really enjoyed a Succession-type story about Lila and her pirates breaking their Watergate-equivalent tied in with the mystery about Zelda's death/disappearance.

Thanks NetGalley and Random House for this eARC!

Like Mother Like Mother is a compelling and layered novel about family and motherhood and our expectations. The story largely follows three generations of the Perreira family, strong and independent Jewish women who are messy and complex. Lila is the daughter of Zelda, who was committed to a mental hospital when she was only 2, living in Detroit, Michigan in the 1950-60s. Early on, Lila learns that her mother has passed away, and she’s subjected to her father’s abusive behavior.

Lila is especially smart and headstrong and ultimately pursues journalism, rising high in its ranks in her career. I found Lila fascinating and frustrating. I think she loved her three daughters in her own way, but simply wasn’t maternal and completely committed to her job. Lila was clearly a workaholic, but this doesn’t seem to have the same connotation as other mental illnesses or disorders.

Grace is one of Lila’s daughters, and we see her mostly in her twenties in the 2000s, finding her way in the world. She has struggled all her life with her absent mother who was never there for school events or birthdays. Grace learns about Lila’s mother Zelda and writes a thinly veiled novel about her family, with a focus on her mother and Zelda.

We learn that it was never confirmed exactly what happened to Zelda. Lila took her father at his word that she died, but there’s no evidence of it or what happened. Did Zelda pass away at a hospital and her records were destroyed or could she have survived and lived a different life away from her family? I found the last third pretty compelling. By the names of each part, I suspected we would get Zelda’s perspective or at least find out what happened to her. We do hear her story, but it’s fairly brief and not as in depth as Lila’s or Grace’s sections.

The characters aren't always the most likable, but they are interesting, and the novel asks a lot of questions in its character’s behaviors and choices. Is it selfish to have children if you’re not maternal or are unwilling or unable to commit time to them? Is it okay to do this if they have a great and committed father? The writing at times was a little choppy. The topic or character being spoken about would abruptly change within a paragraph to something seemingly unrelated. I would recommend this for those who enjoyed The Paper Palace or The Most Fun We Ever Had.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

This was such a good story. Every generation of this family had its own trauma, experiences, love and heartbreak. I enjoyed the dialogue and missed connections between the families as well as the idea of wanting to figure out something from the past but at the same time not wanting to know the answer. This book is a great reminder that we all carry emotions based on present, past, and future.

This is a multigenerational book about three nuanced women and the impact of their life experiences on themselves and their children.

The story focuses on characters, Lila, Grace (daughter) and Zelda (mother). Lila was told by her controlling and abusive father that after committing her mother Zelda in an asylum she died. This caused toddler aged Lila to be raised in a home with an absent mother.

As an adult, Lila is a workaholic that is physically present in the home but absent in mothering. She believes it is best that her three daughters be raised by their loving father and devotes herself to her successful career. She believes she gave them the best she had to offer by leaving parenting to their amazing father.

Grace, alike her mother in personality and not looks, resents her mother for devoting her life to her work. She struggles and spends her life seeking her mothers love and attention. Grace is infatuated with the story of Zelda and seeks to find out what happened to her —did she run away or did she truly die in the asylum. To avoid spoilers I will leave Zelda’s story for you to read!

This book is about the complexity of families, specifically mothers and daughters. Of note, the author does discuss politics heavily in this book and the tone is favorable to the left. This may be a deterrent for some people.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy.

I had a lot of trouble getting into this book but it definitely picked up as I got further along. The author did a great job at writing about the similarities between mother and daughter and it definitely made me emotional at times.

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE MOTHER
BY: SUSAN RIEGER

When Lila was two years old, her abusive father named, Aldo put Lila's mother in an Insane Asylum. He was abusive physically, emotionally, and verbally abusive both to Lila, and her mother, Zelda, before she disappeared completely from Lila's life. He did the same things to Lila, while she still lived with her father in her father's mother's home, (Lila's grandmother). It is Lila that her terribly, cruel father continues to be physically abusive too. Lila absorbs her father's ire, in order that he focuses all of his meanness onto herself. Lila feels that she is shielding her older brother and sister from his abuse and cruelty. Her grandmother takes what little jewelry that Lila's mother had for herself. She is just as mean to her grandchildren as her son was. She felt like she didn't want the burden of cleaning, cooking, and keeping the house for her grandchildren.

Lila escapes from that environment as soon as she is old enough to and falls in love and marries her College sweetheart, named Joe. When Joe brings Lila home for the first time she and his mother Frances hit it off really well. Frances buys Lila designer suits and hosts Joe and Lila's wedding at her home, with Lila's name for its size, "Tara." Lila had told Joe that she didn't want children, and since he does they agree to have switched their parenting roles. Lila is to go on to become a famous person of the Washington Globe newspaper. She works her way up from an obituary writer to her current job that she has until mandatory retiring at age 65. Lila and Joe had three daughters who the oldest two are twins, with her youngest daughter's growing resentment of Lila for always being at work, and not the kind of mother who her youngest daughter needs her to be. Her youngest daughter seems to be a lot closer both in looks and relationship to her father, Joe.

At the University of Chicago, Grace, Lila's youngest daughter who resented Lila for spending all of her time working her way up to the top, meets who turns out to be Grace's best friend all through their four years at their University and after. Her best friend's name is Ruth. Ruth was going to be a doctor, but changed her mind and wants to have her own podcast. She decides to take some time off and work for Grace's father named Joe at his law firm. Somewhere along this story that moves back and forth in time, since way before I reached 50% if not in the first 1/4 they're all at church for Lila's funeral since she died of cancer. Then she is alive again, and Grace has written an autobiographical novel about her mother, and she never believed Lila's mother Zelda, died in the Insane Asylum. Grace shows more interest in what could've happened to Lila's mother, Zelda than Lila did. Lila and Joe have separated, and are living under separate homes per Joe's idea.

Lila got an early ARC of Grace's novel, but it's really obvious her non-fiction novel is about their family and Grace just changed everybody's name. Which it is easily recognizable to Lila who everybody is with their name changes. Joe had wanted a divorce from Lila, but she didn't want one from him so they both had their own places to live. Ruth went back to Florida after working for Joe at his law firm, and living in Lila's apartment free was able to save up tens of thousands of dollars. She spent an evening at her older friend's having dinner, and she met their son, who are also twins like Grace's older sisters, except these are male twins. She gets involved with one of the twins, and he asks her to marry him. She was staying at her mother and Gran's home which is where she grew up and is her home again, and the night of Ruth and Nico's engagement party, Grace meets his twin brother Zander, by which she tells him in so many words, that he is talking too much about himself. She certainly doesn't mince words. He thinks it's something about Grace that has gotten him to open up about himself and talk so much.

Lila didn't come across as a bad mother in this novel, except that she put her job first at Grace's expense and her husband Joe. It's bad that she did that, but I believe whenever she could she talked encouragingly to Grace who seems to be following in her mother, Lila's footsteps. Lila who worked for the Washington Globe Newspaper at the top job. Grace is working at a Newspaper in New York called, The New Yorkist. After a year and a half of working there which was a promotion for her leaving another job at a newspaper, it seemed like she got her job since the man who hired her had heard and knew about her famous mother. As I was saying, Lila didn't have any good role models that taught her how to be a good wife and mother. She praised Grace telling her she was a good writer after reading that ARC much earlier in the novel. I know that Lila was wrong to not put her family ahead of her job. I thought that Lila gave compliments to Grace, and I don't know how she could frankly be so kind to Joe and Grace, when she grew up with her cruel father and his mother. You don't grow up in a cruel environment, without any kindness except from her older brother, who died in a fire helping to save the people in a burning building. At least Lila other than working all of the time was kind to her family, and Grace who resented her mother, and following Grace's wishing that her mother was home after school for her to talk to, and wishing that Lila went to PTA meetings it seems that Grace is following in Lila's footsteps by wanting to be a journalist, and working for a newspaper just like her mother, so I don't agree with other reviewers that Lila's an unlikable person. Joe did get tired of all those missed family dinners, but she clearly loves her family. You show me the perfect person out there, and then we'll talk. I think it's perfectly okay for other reviewers to have their opinions, but I also don't think that Grace is the most likable person, even though she had her father, Joe who is a saint dote on her.

After about a year and a half of Grace working at The New Yorkist, she decided to look at her notes for her non-fiction novel, called, "The Lost Mother." She had mostly notes when she opened up the file and thought to herself,: "A Writer who doesn't write isn't a writer." Grace decided to start at the end, about Lila's mother, Zelda. Grace told herself that Lila's story would come pouring out of herself, as well as her own, too. Ruth was baffled at hearing this asking Grace, "What's in it for you? What does Zelda, Have to do with you?" To which Grace answered Ruth, "I know I'm right." "Zelda didn't die back in 1968, though she may now be dead. Her story is the origin story of our family. Everything follows from her escape." Ruth asked Grace, "What about Aldo? You've never acknowledged the horror of Lila's childhood. The story isn't the missing mother. It's the violent father. You've concocted a matrilineal inheritance of desertion: first, Zelda abandoned Lila, then Lila abandoned you." "Where are all of the fathers? "Think of the huge difference between Aldo and Joe." Ruth is as bright as she is kind. She's honest with Grace, and does bring up a very important fact, like only your best friends do. To which Grace fires back at Ruth defending her lack of logic at zeroing in on her lack, not her good fortune. Grace says to Ruth, "You're not getting it. Before Zelda left, Aldo beat her, not the children. After she left, he started beating them. Zelda fled to save herself. Lila could hold out against Aldo's violence, but not against his violence AND Zelda's desertion, her dereliction, her betrayal. It would have torpedoed her. Zelda had to be dead. Lila has no memories of Zelda. Clara says the few she recalls made her cautious and distrustful. She won't say what they are. Polo remembered her. He would talk about her. He was five when she was hospitalized. I've always thought he knew she wasn't dead and it torpedoed him." Ruth asked Grace, "Do you want to torpedo Lila? Is that your plan?" Grace says back to Ruth, in a childish retort, in my opinion. "I'm making it up. I'm writing a novel. Mostly. She won't know more than she knew before."

Susan Rieger, the author, wrote a multi-generational beautiful story about mothers and daughters. She did an excellent job examining the questions, which one is, how can you be a great mother, when you didn't have any role models in your life to show you how it's done? It also asks whether you, as a daughter, can perceive the positive things that your mother did for you, not just what she didn't do that defines you. In Lila as a mother, I thought that Grace focused on the negative aspects about her mother, and didn't appreciate the positive gifts Grace received from Lila until it was too late. Lila didn't act cruel on purpose to her children, repeating the cycle of her upbringing for the most part. Yes, Grace, Lila's youngest child, felt like her mother didn't meet all of her needs by working so much. Lila did the best she could as Grace realizes when she solves the puzzle about Lila's horrific childhood. Lila's mother wasn't a presence in her life, which I feel that this author did a masterful job at depicting how things are passed down that shapes us and we all do the best we can, under our circumstances. I don't believe mothers purposely set out to hurt their children, yet sometimes we do unintentionally, for many different reasons. Sometimes we don't meet our children's needs by being unaware of the fact, that some of our actions are hurting our children. We are not conscious of it at the time. Grace received love from her father, who made an agreement with Lila, who openly told Joe, before they got married that she didn't know how to be a mother. Joe and Lila made an agreement before they got married that she would work, and her husband Joe would take the un-traditional role of raising the children. Lila was a loving person, and loved by many except Grace, who realizes too late, how her and Lila have more in common than she thought. She didn't think about how she might have hurt her mother,by writing her non-fiction novel. Yet, Lila praised Grace telling her she was a good writer. "Like Mother, Like Mother,"is the perfect title for this novel that explores how we all do the best we could, as far as Grace and Lila were concerned. I felt that her innate temperament was that she did the best that she could. Maybe her driven nature to be a workaholic, and neglect her family as a result, was Lila's way of dealing with the trauma she experienced in her horrific childhood. There is a mystery within this novel that I won't say what it is, and whether it's solved. It will enlighten readers and some characters in this outstanding novel. I LOVED IT! I want to read Susan Rieger's other novel that preceded this. I really think the dynamics of family, and inter-generational trauma, is explored with psychological insight, that this very talented author explored realistically. I think this novel deserves to reach as wide of an audience as possible. We all do the best we can given our situations and circumstances that shape us. "Like Mother, Like Mother," is also heavily portrayed, how much of our experiences with our mothers, whether intentionally or not affects the un-examined life, and just how much we can be influenced by our mothers. It really is a multi-generational portrait of how mothers and daughters relationships trickle down, and how we deal with our perceptions of our mothers, or not deal with our own realities about just how much our mothers we internalize. This is a realistic portrait of how much mothers and daughters relationships correlate, and in most cases we as daughters, absorb from our mothers nurturing whether we choose to or not, how much we are alike.

Publication Date: October 29, 2024. AVAILABLE NOW TO PURCHASE! NET GALLEY MEMBERS CAN STILL REQUEST THIS NOVEL, WHICH I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Thank you to Net Galley, Susan Rieger, and Random House Publishing Group--RandomHouse/ The Dial Press, for generously providing me with my fabulous ARC, in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#LikeMotherLikeMother #SusanRieger #RandomHousePublishingGroupRandomHouseTheDialPress #NetGalley

I was absolutely riveted by this fascinating multigenerational family saga! Excellent writing, robust characterization and vivid plotting made this one tough to put down. For all of her faults, I loved Lila and understood why she was the way she was. Ruth and Grace were fascinating. The families weren't perfect, but they did love each other. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves a family story with an imperfect mother at the center.

I LOVE a good multigenerational family saga & this story that definitely fits that. The story It's very character driven and evokes a lot of emotion. It focuses on the mother and daughter relationship. We get to see challenging family dynamics and how the characters deal with it. I really enjoyed the writing as well. The story deals with themes of power, ambition, parenthood, and abuse. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and The Dial Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!