Laura & Emma is a fun story of a mother and daughter growing up in the upper east side of New York City in the 80s and 90s. This is a light read that touches on serious issues including postpartum depression, the AIDS epidemic and death of a family member. I enjoyed the writing and the snippets of Laura & Emma's life. Fans of Gilmore Girls will enjoy this story.

Laura & Emma by Kate Greathead follows the relationship between mothers and daughters, told in vignettes against the changing times between 1980 and 1995. It is a comedy of manners novel with loads of laugh out loud moments.

Laura comes from a wealthy New York City family descended, from a Robber Baron whose inherited wealth supports her. She has a degree in English and a job through the family. She envies self-made people.

Laura has never been in love. Her mother's favorite saying is that it doesn't matter who you marry--you will end up thinking, "Anything would be better than this!"

The book begins with Laura pondering that a husband would be nice to have around the apartment if the window were swollen or the fire detector battery needed replacing. She wouldn't have to wait until morning to call the super.

She dresses in Fry boots and a flowered Laura Ashley skirt and turtleneck sweater--a uniform she wears all of her life. (I had those fry boots and made a Ralph Lauren full skirt. Unlike Laura, they went to the Goodwill long before the 1980s were over!) She has no intention of having children, no interest in marrying. She is concerned about the environment. She has The Enchanted Broccoli Forest and Moosewood cookbooks but rarely cooks.

In 1980 while her parents are away, she stays at their home for a week. She is surprised that a man is also staying there. She assumes he is a friend of her brothers, and he does tell her stories of their time together in boarding school. Before the week is out, he charms her into bed with him. The next day he is gone.

He was not a friend of her brother's but a house-crashing burglar. The one-night stand leaves her pregnant. Laura makes up a story of artificial insemination with donated Swedish sperm. Emma is born, and Laura does her best as a mother, hoping to give Emma a life different from hers, apart from artificial high society values. She finds an apartment on the border of Harlem--but on the 'right side' of the street.

I laughed out loud so many times. Laura goes on a date and notices the man has earrings. She decides they aren't meant to be, but the earrings turn out to be his daughter's stickers.

Laura's friend Margaret explains she has joined "the club", seeing a "shrink." After years of marriage, she sometimes looks at her sleeping husband, whose snoring keeps her awake, and thinks that it is a good thing she didn't have a gun in her bedside table.

Don't worry, things turn out fine for the marriage. But what a clever scene to talk about the idea that "it doesn't matter who you marry, one day you'll be sitting across the table from him, thinking, Anything would be better than this." I'm pretty sure husbands think the same thing about wives. I'll ask mine the next time I am wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt to keep warm--my Oompa Loompa look according to him.

The book was promoted in terms of, "if you liked Ladybird or Gilmore Girls." Gilmore Girls included a single mom at odds with her wealthy parents, and Ladybird showed a teenager wanting the freedom to find her own way. The themes are similar.

We learn about Laura by her actions and passivity. She is the least self-aware character imaginable. Her inner conflicts are hinted at without an overt authorial voice. We make connections about Laura by implication.

Emma, on the other hand, is sharp as a tack. As a preschooler she asks Laura why they don't live "in their neighborhood," that is where their friends and stores are.

I know readers who do not like this book because 1) it is episodic, without a strong linear plot; 2) it is character-driven without a lot of inner dialogue; and, 3) it is open-ended.

But I enjoyed it. I love a good comedy of manners. Laura's inability to deal with adult intimate relationships, Emma's zeroing in on the inconsistencies of their lives, and the gaps between mothers and daughters all feel real.

I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

A delightfully fun, character-driven debut novel by Kate Greathead about Laura, a quirky young single mother, raising her daughter Emma in NYC.

But "life hadn't required Laura to navigate unknown territory on her own." She is a WASP descendant of one of the Robber Barons of old and works as an event planner at the museum that was once the private residence of her great-grandfather. The way in life has always been smoothed for her, even when it requires a few white lies: such as about the paternity of her child. Her work hours are adjusted to fit her needs and she is given eight weeks paid vacation, even though she wants to take those weeks during the most inconvenient peak wedding season.

Life for these people is buffered by their social network of 'who's who' and such privilege comes with its own set of rules, the right things to say and do. But Laura tends to go her own way. Her friends think Laura is oblivious to things like fashion because she wears a simple daily uniform of her own devising: white turtleneck, Laura Ashley skirt and Frye cowboy boots. But she feels she does this to 'save the earth' from over-consumption; she took to heart the environmentalists' credo: "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." She lives off her salary, donating her trust fund dividend checks to charity. But don't worry--daddy does help with things like tuition to a private school for little Emma.

But are you really experiencing life if you always have to pause and wonder: What am I supposed to feel? How am I expected to react? If you don't get down and get dirty in the trenches of life? If your family doesn't make their own Thanksgiving turkey?? (gasp!)

And speaking of turkey, I enjoyed this story immensely and gobbled it down in one day! (Pffft--sorry!) The chapters are specific years of Laura's life beginning in 1980 and ending in 1995, years when I raised my own children so I could relate to some of the situations she finds herself in. Does Laura grow as a person? I think so but she makes as many mistakes as the rest of us along the way!

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing me with a copy of this lovely new book. I believe Kate Greathead's career as a writer is off to a great start!

I find it difficult to put into my words my opinions of this book. The prose was similar to the main character herself - plain and unassuming. We follow Laura and her daughter Emma over the course of nearly two decades, from Emma's conception into her teen years. While Laura is not someone I would think I would like to read a book about - she is by all accounts relatively boring - I found the book enjoyable and in some senses comforting.

The story is told in a series of vignettes. Some tell of serious developments in the story and defining points of their lives, while some seem to have no significance. But is it in those simple vignettes that the story shines. They reminded me of those memories in your life that stick out - those days or moments that you remember for no seeming reason. In those, we got the best sense of the characters and their motivations.

I admired how relatable this book was. Not everyone's life is worthy of a blockbuster movie, of course. I even found myself enjoying the parts and characters that seemed completely unrelated to the overarching narrative. While I enjoyed this book, I hesitate to give more stores simply because it's not a moving account or an interesting story. Of course, it doesn't try to be. And that's ok.



*I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a beautiful debut novel from Kate Greathead! Laura and Kate deals with the relationship between a single mother and her headstrong daughter. Set in New York City during the 1980's and 1990's it is filled with stories of private education, summer houses, family ties, the AIDS epidemic, and trying to find one's place in the world. I loved that the story was told through a series of vignettes, inviting us in and exploring the lives of a whole cast of characters; including Laura's hilariously eccentric mother, her brother who suffers from a stutter that rears its ugly head around their demanding father, a loving pediatrician, and friends who come and go from their lives.

This story follows Laura (and her daughter Emma) through life in New York City. They have several advantages coming from from a family with money. This allows items like private school and a beach house to be a possibility as Emma grows up. The book has one chapter for each year and we watch the relationship between Laura and Emma evolve. The was a nice book to read on a Sunday afternoon as Laura and Emma grow and develop.

I'm going to give this a 3.5 rating and it was a 4 up until the last page. I'm not going to include spoilers, just suffice it to say the ending ruined it for me.

This is a comforting story from the beginning about Laura. Laura was raised a affluent Manhattan family. She is quite naive and one night she has a one night stand with someone who happens to robbing their apartment unbeknownst to her. She thinks he's an old roommate of her brothers. She gets pregnant and decides to keep the baby. She tells her family she had in vitro and the father was Swedish. The chapters are a year at a time and begin in the 80's and end in the late 90's. Laura is a calm and loving mother and Emma grows up to be a quirky kid.

Like I said before this book was comforting and easy to read and enjoyable to read. I just wished I like the ending. Thanks to Netgalley for the book in exchange an honest opinion.

Laura is a born and bred New Yorker who comes from an old money family, but still lives frugally and take nothing for granted. In her mid thirties she has a one night stand and finds herself pregnant. She makes the decision to keep the baby and names her Emma.

Laura raises Emma the same way she was raised. She attends private schools and goes away every summer to their beach house. Laura continues to work, however her mortgage and Emma's private school tuition is paid for by her father. As Emma grows up the mother daughter relationship changes and they shift to more of a friendship, with Laura constantly feeling like she is still searching for her place in the world.

This book started of as a 4 star read for me. Then it kind of fizzled out. I liked everything about it and enjoyed getting to know the characters, I just felt like nothing was expanded upon. Some of the chapters (which were years) were so short with nothing happening. If you go back and read the description of what this book is about you'll know everything that happened. I would have enjoyed it more if it was longer and events were given more time to unfold. Laura started to bug me towards the middle also. She seemed cold and naive and incapable of any real feelings or emotions.

This was a funny and enjoyable story about mother and daughter. It had a lot of tender moments and was well written.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC.

There’s a definite charm to this debut. Greathead writes wittily and slyly, offering a heroine both appealing and laughably unaware of her self deception. There’s a political dimension and a lot of alienation, all expressed gently if tellingly. The episodic structure lends a modern feel but also works against the book, leaving the reader with the sense that the parts are greater than the whole. Nevertheless there is much to relish and applaud here, in the first full length outing by a gifted new voice.

Laura and Emma has a Gilmore Girls goes to New York City vibe.  Laura and Emma is the story of single mom Laura and her adventure in raising Emma in the city with all the dry wit you would expect from a thick skinned single mom New Yorker in the 90s.

This novel is told in short vignettes and wow, does it ever work for this book!  The writer has done an amazing job weaving the story together, building the characters and being throughly consistent in these brief little glimpses into the year.

I loved this book and I highly recommend it to anyone that's a fam of women's literature or the Gilmore Girls.  Thank you to Simon and Schuster for this free book in exchange for my review.

Quick enjoyable read set in the New York City of the 80s/mid-90s. Laura is a 7th generation New Yorker- who in the assessment of many, doesn't really seem like she was born and bred there. Indeed, Laura is different than the rest of her family and circle of blue-blood friends and neighbors. An unexpected pregnancy (the circumstances of which are rather chilling) finally allows her to break somewhat free of the expectations and way of life her family has lived for literally generations. But as much as Laura chooses to live her life in a way not quite as posh as those closest to her, she is more than willing to fall back on her privileged circumstances and family connections when it suits her needs. A generation removed, her daughter Emma has a better chance of truly breaking free of the past, but complaining about their wealth while away at boarding school suggests that she may fall into the same cycle as her mother. Told in chapters each representing one year, the ending was abrupt, random, uncertain, and less than satisfying.

What a weird book. I didn’t hate it. I liked reading about the relationship between Laura and Emma but it felt like there wasn’t really a point. And then it just ended. Still, I laughed in some places and was interested in the characters.

After getting halfway through the book, I just couldn’t continue reading this. I must have missed what people thought was quirky and comical; I felt the main characters were just spoiled and annoying, Laura seemingly oblivious to real life, including what it takes to get pregnant. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC, but just not my thing.

Thanks to the publisher, Simon & Schuster, via NetGalley, for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is Kate Greathead's debut novel about a mother (Laura) and daughter (Emma) relationship set in New York City during the 1980's and 1990's. It's a series of short vignettes by year starting with Emma's birth. Laura is part of the privileged Upper East Side with no intentions of becoming a wife and mother. Emma is the result of a one-night stand and Laura surprises herself by embracing motherhood and tries very hard to be a good mother.

The personality differences of Laura and Emma were beautifully written and so believable. The closeness of the mother-daughter relationship slowly becomes strained as Emma enters the teenage years. There are some interesting side stories involving, among other topics, the HIV crises, privileges of the upper class, postpartum depression, and the recession.

Ms. Greathead uses some humor and certainly seems knowledgeable about the time period in this novel.. However, I was disappointed in the ending which was uncertain and I felt left hanging.

Kooky and Quirky are words that kept popping into my head as I read - and enjoyed
“Laura & Emma”......
with dialogue that included such sayings as “hippy-dippy”, “lousy-goosey”, and “hoity-toity”.
Don’t get me wrong - there ‘are’ plenty of serious themes in this novel ......but there are just so many wacky moments - that this novel becomes really comical.

Emma was born in 1981.....( the same year my first born child was born too)- but unlike Emma - our daughter was raised with a mom & dad.
Laura was a single mother.

Laura not only had a one night stand - oops no birth control protection - but she had sex with a con-artist bunk mate potential thief ( the maid chased him away before he got away with suitcases filled with loot), who tells her he was roommates with her brother years ago when they were in boarding school.
When Laura mentioned to her brother that she met his roommate from boarding school - that he was staying at the apt. the same week she was - his response was...
“He had a Single”. Oops against!

Wouldn’t you be somewhat embarrassed to discover you’re pregnant for allowing yourself to be seduced by charm and wine by an intruder-scumbag?
Laura was too. She didn’t want to tell her parents, her brother or her child the truth.
Mr. Hot Stud was apparently from Sweden—-so it was very easy to produce a story about artificial insemination —-donated from Swedish sperm —of course. ( a little truth never hurt anyone).

So.....
.....We watch Emma grow up - “spirited”- a word her mother uses herself. I thought she was a kick - refreshing - real - wise - observant - often picking up on ‘value-inconsistencies’ of her mother.
.....We watch Laura grow up - ( questionable) : good book club discussion JUST ABOUT LAURA’S character.
Given that Laura had very little experience with men, sex, and social variety/experiences and awareness- before having a child — she really didn’t ‘fully’ know who she was or where she best fit in the world yet.
Even her enjoyment of the one-night stand -- letting go sexually - egged to beautify herself with happy anticipation to see her guy again the next day......( which didn’t happen)....was an indicator that Laura could have blossom in many varied directions— but Emma is born.
Emma becomes prime priority over more wine & ravenous evenings. Even Laura’s mother supported her being a single mother - as she sure didn’t talk very highly of husbands! Laura and her mother - both consider men ‘handy-tool guys’ of little other value! oh my!!! Wow...ok?

Laura and Emma had relationship struggles which were frustrating - and at times it was hard to see the source of the problem. Mother? or Daughter?
The author - Kate Greathead did a great job demonstrating the extreme difficulties in being able to see where a problem starts - and where one ends between a mother and daughter. It’s ‘not’ easy to identify the absolute truth in these types of relationships. ANY MOTHER KNOWS THIS! ( single or married).


.....Each chapter in this novel from 1981 - 1995 covers a year - the setting is in Manhattan at the end of the twentieth century — so we re-visit the hostile environment - homicides near record high -the crack cocaine epidemic- lots of small businesses— as compared to more Big chain stores today - and the AIDS epidemic-
fashion memories ( too funny— I didn’t see myself wearing clothes mentioned- but I enjoyed some great laughs) - and cultural society changes that touch personal lives.
.....More laughs with Bibs- Laura’s mom- Emma’s grandmother.
.....Douglas is Laura’s dad — has a side of him that had has you shaking your head.
.....Margaret: Bossy best friend to Laura - another character to form opinions-
.....Dr. Brown: A guidance counselor to Laura - another interesting character - with his own issues to deal with too.
.....Nicolas: Laura’s brother - pediatrician - ( very sensitive to his father’s opinion)- Sweet kind guy

So....lots going on —- not without flaws - but this is REALLY ENJOYABLE ....
My best way to sum things up —-is there are serious themes...relationship issues -
thought provoking enough to make this a great book club pick —-
But it’s the quirkiness in the writing - with intelligent authentic angst- that adds so much charm - that makes this story come alive.

Thank You Simon & Schuster, Netgalley, and Kate Greathead

I wanted to like this more. The eroding itself was enjoyable, but the plot was lacking and I wanted more character development. I didn't have strong feelings about any of the characters or situations. The ending was also abrupt, which I didn't enjoy.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The story is of Laura, and her daughter, Emma in 1980’s and 1990’s Manhattan. Laura, born to a wealthy family becomes pregnant after a one night stand and raises Emma as a single mother. The chapters are divided from 1981, when Emma is conceived to 1995,each chapter covering one year. Some chapters are lengthy, some are just a few pages. In addition to the mother daughter relationship, the book addresses the evolving AIDS epidemic, mental illness, family relationships, etc. Some events that should have been explored more (Laura’s mother, Bibs - don’t want to include spoilers) are barely mentioned. I also would have liked to see more on Emma’s rebellion, what has led to it and how Laura should have dealt with it. Laura’s telling Emma about her conception and Emma’s reaction was glossed over and should have even explored further.
All along, while it was an easy, quick read, I was trying to figure out the essence of the story and I never got that. The characters were shallow, couldn’t identify with any of them. The abrupt ending totally left me with not knowing what the writer tried to achieve with this novel.
Overall, I can not give the book more than a generous 3 stars.
Thanks NetGalley, Simon and Schuster and he author, Kate Greatehead for the the advanced copy.

Laura and Emma opens the reader's eyes to the world of the privileged New Yorker who's also a single mother: how they live, their family dynamics, and the challenges they face. The story begins with Emma's conception, under unusual circumstances, in 1981, and unfolds through a series of vignettes up to 1995. I found the beginning and ending of the book intriguing, but didn't enjoy the in-between sections as much, although I did think the author did a great job of capturing New York and key events during the time frame.
Laura is a person of contrasts and seemed to want to revolt, to some degree, against her upbringing, while still relying on it. She ends up buying an apartment in Harlem and shops at a discount grocer, but still relies on her parents to pay her mortgage, and for other support. My favorite example was when Emma was ready to start pre-school, Laura decides she wants to work part-time and goes over her bosses head to the Board of Directors to arrange to work part-time, but at the same salary and benefits.
Overall, Laura and Emma was an interesting book and I'm looking forward to discussing the ending with friends! Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read the book.

Laura and Emma, the debut novel from nine-time Moth StorySLAM champion Kate Greathead is simply delightful. This funny, often poignant story about a single mom from a wealthy New York family and her daughter, the result of a chance encounter will leave you smiling!