Like Mother, Like Mother

Like Mother, Like Mother

A Novel

About the Book

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

“A novel in the spirit of Meg Wolitzer, Jean Hanff Korelitz, and the great Nora Ephron. Who says comedy is dead? It’s all here—the joyful craziness, the wisecracking newswoman, the family secrets with a twist of lime.”—Allegra Goodman, bestselling author of
Sam

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?

Spanning generations, and populated by complex, unforgettable characters, Like Mother, Like Mother is an exhilarating, portrait of family, marriage, ambition, power, the stories we inherit, and the lies we tell to become the people we believe we’re meant to be.
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Praise for Like Mother, Like Mother

Like Mother, Like Mother is a rare thing: a sprawling family saga, briskly told. Susan Rieger covers so much—the shadow cast by long-held secrets, the challenges of a long marriage, the joys and tribulations of being a parent, a spouse, a sibling, a child—with the lightest of touches . . . and a welcome and often-surprising sense of humor.”Rumaan Alam, New York Times bestselling author of Leave the World Behind

“Phenomenal . . . Are we really like our mothers? And do we want to be? I loved Susan Rieger’s wise, exhilaratingly moving tale of three generations of women all trying to figure out who they are. Rieger sifts through the secrets, lies, and palpable yearnings to get to the beating heart of nature vs. nurture, and the stories we are told vs. the stories we need to hear.”Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You and Days of Wonder

“Susan Rieger is one of our finest writers about families, money, and ambition, and Like Mother, Like Mother is smart, funny, and wise. With pungent wit and the fizz of a Tracy-Hepburn comedy, she writes about long-held family secrets and mothers good and bad with warmth and elegance.”Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of House on Fire and The Oligarch’s Daughter

“A novel in the spirit of Meg Wolitzer, Jean Hanff Korelitz, and the great Nora Ephron . . . Who says comedy is dead? It’s all here—incredible characters, joyful satire, a wisecracking newswoman, family secrets with a twist of lime.”—Allegra Goodman, bestselling author of Sam

Like Mother, Like Mother is the best kind of novel: compelling, warm, funny, and complicated, full of kick-ass women in tangled relationships, spanning generations and coming of age again and again. With heart, humor, and good faith, Susan Rieger tackles my favorite subjects: writing, family, and the conditions of unconditional love. I loved this book.”Laurie Frankel, bestselling author of This Is How It Always Is and Family Family

Like Mother, Like Mother is a smart, captivating novel about family secrets, simmering resentments, marriage, and success. Susan Rieger gives us perfectly messy, complex, witty characters searching for answers and connection. Long after you finish it, this book will make you think about the stories that shape us, the stories we search for, and what it means to pass them from one generation to the next.”Jennifer Close, bestselling author of Marrying the Ketchups

“Susan Rieger has brought us a novel of mothers and daughters, but even more pressingly, of what it means to investigate past and present and tell stories about what we find. It is a direct, unsentimental love letter to journalism, and to the wise, weird women who are so often its beating heart.”—Rebecca Traister, bestselling author of Good and Mad
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About the Author

Susan Rieger
Susan Rieger is a graduate of Columbia Law School. She has worked as a residential college dean at Yale and as an associate provost at Columbia. She has taught law to undergraduates at both schools and written frequently about the law for newspapers and magazines. She is the author of The Heirs and The Divorce Papers. She lives in New York City with her husband. More by Susan Rieger
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Random House Group