I enjoyed this book almost as much as Ann Napolitano’s Hello Beautiful! It has the same feel but instead of sisters, it’s about a mother-daughter relationship. I think this came along at just the right time in my life. Reiger has really captured the complicated dynamic of raising a daughter when you have a strained relationship with your own mother. The desperation of trying to do things differently without overcompensating. The hurt that comes with having a daughter who is determined to keep her distance from you. The healing that takes place after you stop trying to force it. I felt seen. Thankful for books and their power to heal.

I had seen this book hyped on social media so I had high expectations going in to it -- and it definitely lived up to them!

The book starts with the death of Lila, whose three daughters are mourning her in different ways. Grace is feeling somewhat guilty because she recently published a novel that did not put her mother in the best light, so when she is given a very specific task by her recently deceased mother, she does what she can to follow through with it.

I loved all of the characters, flawed as they might be, and enjoyed the way the novel seamlessly moved back and forth between them. I thought the way everything was revealed was really well done, and there was enough tension that I just wanted to keep reading.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves books about complex family dynamics, strong women, absent mothers, and good character development. This was my first by Susan Rieger and I am eager to check out her backlist.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

Like Mother, Like Mother follows three generations of women, Grace, her mother Lila, and Lila’s elusive mother Zelda who Lila believes died when she was a child. It focuses on how each generation affects the next.

I think one of the main themes within the story is acceptance. Lila had to accept that her mother was never coming back and Grace had accept that her mother would never be who she wanted her to be. What both girls endured through their lives was heart wrenching. I felt so bad for Grace as she struggled with her relationship with her mother.

It was wonderful to see Grace begin to let go of the grudges she held her whole life and evolve into someone who could look past her mother and grandmothers shortcomings.

This story involved a lot of discussion about domestic violence, so I would take that into consideration while reading.

Overall, it was a great story about family dynamics and trauma that can be carried through generations until someone decides to stop the cycle.

What an unexpected surprise this novel was! While telling the story of 3 generations of women, it examines motherhood that was thrust upon three women for various reasons and how that affected not only that generation but the generations to follow. There is so much to think about this story - much more than just what makes a good mother or a bad mother.

The story is told in 3 parts: we first hear Lila's perspective as she mothers while an editor of a D.C. newspaper, then Grace's story, one of Lila's daughter, before we finally hear the grandmother Zelda's story whom has been a "presence" in the first 2 parts. Reading the story not in time order was very interesting, making the ending even more powerful. Once I started reading, I was so engrossed and could not put it down.

This will be one of my top books of the year because I completely enjoyed the entire reading experience and continue to think about these women every day.
Many thanks to #RandomHouse #TheDialPress and #NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a character driven story of a multi-generational family with very strong woman. While Lily Pereira is the beginning focus of the story, it really goes back to her mother Zelda. Zelda was placed in an institution by her abusive husband when Lily was only 2 years old. Lily has an older brother, Polo, and an older sister, Clara. Lily takes the brunt of the abuse from her father and stands up to him.
The book is written in three parts, starting with Lily then moving to Lily’s youngest daughter Grace, and then lastly to Zelda. The author includes a list of the “Cast of Characters”, which I initially found very useful to refer to, but you will soon know these characters like members of your family and become very familiar with their roles in the story.
Lily is a brash woman, especially given the life she had with an abusive father, who becomes a top-notch journalist. She eventually rises to the top of her career and becomes the executive editor of The Washington Globe. She marries Joe but states that she has no motherly feelings towards children. They do have three daughters whom Joe raises like a mother would. Lily loves them and would protect them with her life but is not a conventional mother at all. While this doesn’t appear to bother the two older daughters, who are so close in age they are often times viewed as twins, the younger daughter Grace struggles with her mother’s role. She feels abandoned by her.
Grace also becomes a writer, writing a fictitious novel, The Lost Mother, about her family. But she was always curious about her grandmother Zelda and whether or not she was still alive. Grace goes onto search for what happened to her grandmother.
Many of the characters were extremely likable from the start- especially Joe , Lily’s husband, Grace’s college roommate Ruth, and Joe’s mother Frances, who is a tough cookie and extremely generous.

This novel is all about mother-daughter relationships, family, marriage, ambition, not knowing who you really are, stories and lies, politics, and genealogy. There is also a mystery involved as the family (and the reader) try to put all the family pieces together.

Many thanks to RandomHouse and NetGalley for allowing me to read the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Published on October 29, 2024.

3.75 stars rounded up. I enjoyed this novel (although the ending felt a little rushed). Grace was an interesting character - I both liked and didn't like her. She seems driven and determined, but never thinks about the consequences of her actions until it's too late. Lila was very interesting. Listen, all of the characters are flawed, which is sort of the point of this novel - where you come from helps determine who you are.

"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?"

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/The Dial Press for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

Susan Reiger has written a delightful story of family. Of course there is drama, hurt and secrets! How much of our lives are determined from our past? In a search for the truth do we learn what we don’t really want to know?

This book was different then what I'm used to reading. Pulled me in from the beginning and had me turning pages. I could not put it down. Made me realize how much I'm like my mom, like Grace realized she was like Lila. Loved the story!

Like mother, like mother was a delight and very deserving of all the praise and buzz!

The story follows three generations-lilac, a successful , ambitious but un maternal reporter who is still trying to make peace with her childhood and her own mother. Her mother, Zelda, was abused by her father, aldo for years. Zelda went to a psychiatric institute where she died-or so her children were told. Lilahs last wish is for her daughter, grace, to find out if Zelda really died or if she willingly left the family.

Grace also has a complex relationship with her mother and her memory, but as grace matures and grows up she begins to develop a greater understanding of her dead mother.

This is a warm and propulsive story with heart and humor. Lilah and grace are empathetic characters who you can’t help but root for. At the heart is the relationship between the mothers and their children and the generational traumas. An excellent read!

Thanks to the publisher for providing the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank NetGalley and The Dial Press for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it in your local and online bookstores and libraries on October 29, 2024.

This is a complicated story filled with very strong women and I appreciate how well developed each character is, as well as their stories are. Even if not every character was likable. It's a thought provoking novel that brings up a lot of questions and thoughts about motherhood and just women hood in general. The humor nicely tied everything together. Although I did not connect with the story, I can appreciate all the makings of the story such as family drama and multi-generational family saga. This was definitely an eyeopening and interesting read!

Like Mother, Like Mother, is 3 generations of women, Zelda, her daughter, Lila, and her granddaughter, Grace. Their journey's will take you, through the life Zelda had, and how it affected her daughter, and then we see how it affected Grace's life.
Grace decides she wants to write a book about her mother. While writing it, she sees she doesn't know much about her family, and decides to find out about her family. This will take you through, what she finds out, the untangling of her family, all that she learns, and what the journey brings her too.
There is a lot to this story, it kept me reading, because I wanted to know the answers to the many questions I had while reading it.
I received an ARC from The Dial Press through NetGalley.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

I really loved this book. Three generations of women and the decisions they that affect those around them. Starting in 1960, Lila is a two year old when her father commits her mother to an insane asylum. Her mother never returns and her abusive father who is raising her and her two older siblings tells them she has died.

Lila goes on to great things, marrying her college sweetheart who is very well off and then becoming a journalism star who becomes the executive editor of the Washington Globe newspaper. She has three daughters whom she loves but doesn't really know how to care for so she leaves most parenting duties to her wonderful husband Joe. As her youngest daughter Grace grows up she resents that her mother was not a more involved mother.

Grace goes on to publish a book and become a journalist herself. Grace also never truly believes that her grandmother died back in the 60's. After her own mother dies, she goes on a quest to discover what happened to her grandmother. All three women are strong women who deal with the lives that they have been dealt, leave it up to the reader if they would have made the same decisions.

I can definitely see this book as provoking great discussions. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

There's nothing I love more than a dysfunctional family drama and 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥, 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥, which focuses on the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters, is one I won't soon forget.

The story centers around women who are unapologetically ambitious and aren't afraid to put themselves first. In many ways, the book questions whether that makes them bad mothers while also exploring why women are always the ones expected to makes sacrifices for the good of the family.

Throughout the book, Rieger creates scenarios that are made for book club conversations and often I found myself wishing I had someone to discuss them with. With wonderful Jewish rep and flawed, complex characters, I was completely caught up in this riveting multi-generational examination of marriage, family and duty.

Thanks to Random House and Dial Press for the copy to review.

“I’m not good at hating,” Clara said. “We are who we were: Clara, the Guardian. Polo, the Knight. Lila, the Hoodlum.”

These were the characters featured in Part I Lila and I loved them. As I read through the Part I chapters, I thought this was going to be a five star review for me. I also loved Frances and I’m so glad she was a vital character throughout the book.

Then came Part II Grace. In Grace’s chapters, everyone attended big name colleges and become lawyers and doctors. Except for Ruth, Grace’s college roommate. Ruth was from a lovely, charming family in Florida where she was raised by her single mom and grandmother. But Ruth was overshadowed, because in these chapters, Rieger typecast conservatives, southerners and Christians as ignorant racists. Throughout Grace’s chapters, Democrat politicians were portrayed as wonderful and loved by all, while conservative politicians were stupid, corrupt and undeserving of their roles. Only Ruth, her mom and grandmother got a pass for being Southern, conservative Christians in Reiger’s world of elite Columbia, Chicago and Stanford alum doctors and lawyers.

Part III Zelda was a big improvement, because those chapters returned a lot of focus to Lila, Clara, Joe and Frances—my favorite characters. Characters with grit, kindness, intelligence—real people, not the entitled. The story became very interesting in these chapters, too, as we finally found answers and resolution.

Rieger’s assumption that her political views are fact came as no surprise after reading her background info, but she ruined a great story. Many readers in the world are more like Ruth’s mom and grandmother.

Advanced reader copy courtesy of the publishers at NetGalley for review.

Getting this finished today, publication day. Multi generational story told through a mother, and then her daughter. Most of the men are too good to be true, except for the original monster of a father, Aldo.
The theme of abandoned daughters, whether real or just emotionally abandoned is heartbreaking. How children deal with the trauma is shown very well.
Lila escapes from her father, and believes that her mother has died. Her brother Polo, who was five when the mother was sent to an asylum deals with it in one way, while sister Clara remains somewhat unscathed.
Lila's daughter Grace is too much like her mother and grows up emotionally starved for her mother, but feeling very loved by her father, Joe.
There is a large cast of interesting characters who interact throughout the book, and many more instances of children abandoned one way or another.
DNA testing is a big plot point in several of the stories to the good or to the bad, just like in real life.
There is a surprisingly happy ending, which did in fact make me happy.
I may have had a more personal reaction to this book than some. Being Jewish, having a father I disliked, having lived in Florida, D. C. And LA, all settings in the book all combined to increase my interest.
I do think this will make a very good book club book and will engender many interesting conversations.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the EARC. The opinions are my honest reactions to this book.

I loved this book - from the beautiful cover (wish I could frame it) to the compelling storytelling about 3 generations of women, Zelda, Lila, and Grace, . The book had a unique voice, almost old-fashioned, and I really liked it. Something in the story almost reminiscent of Hello Beautiful, but with a distinct voice. I'll be seeking out this author's backlist for more.

Three generations of mothers and daughters and readers wrestling with the definition of a 'good mother'. Zelda, Lila and Grace - not perfect but each doing what they thought was best. The relationships are smart and tough and complicated and there is lots of room for debate about the actions each chooses to take. This book is well written and interesting. There are lots of characters, as to be expected in a multi-generation book - however, they all tied well to the three main women so that I did not find the story confusing. I loved Lila's character and could have used more of her in the latter parts of the book.

'He said he tempered her steel. She said she raised his ruckus.'

'Stella and Ava had their mother's looks, but like most copies, they were dimmer.'

'They did what they had to. They did what they could.'

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this novel about three generations of women in the Pereira family. It was well written and the characters were all interesting and well developed. You understood the motivations and behaviors of Lila and Grace. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

This story spans decades following three generations of very hard nosed and complex women and I really, really enjoyed it.

I am a HUGE fan of family sagas and stories that are heavily character driven. This story has that with splashes of sarcasm and humor and a bit of mystery. One of the women, Lila, who I think was also my favorite character, is a newspaper editor and I really, really enjoyed that part of her storyline.

“People surprise you, always ask.”

I also love stories that make me think more deeply, that are thought-provoking and vulnerable and this story made me think so much about my own mom and my grandmother. It made me see my mom more clearly and made me want to ask her all sorts of questions about her life. I already told she needs to read this as soon as possible so we can talk about it.

I also really, really loved that these women are tough.

“You are the hero of your own life.”

This book will definitely be one that I will think about for a long time and one that I think everyone should read.