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The characters in The Perfect Mother make endless poor or nerve-wracking choices (stealing, sharing information not meant for others, failing to meet professional deadlines, spying, ultimately turning on each other majority of their questionable choices don’t feel linked to attempts to free themselves from “perfect mother felt like thin bonds holding the women together in the first place—they would ever purposely see each other The Perfect Mother is a quick read and a page-turner, although you may consistently suspect that you’

I loved Enid's complicated, loving mother-daughter relationship as well as her best-friendship. Her quirky, beloved mother struggles with depression, and Enid struggles to keep an eye on her. I loved the mother-daughter love. And I loved Enid's best-friendship.

Mary Otis's debut novel explores the complicated mother-daughter relationship between alcoholic, erratic Mary Otis's debut novel Burst explores a fraught mother-daughter relationship. As Viva gets older, she immerses herself in dance and distances herself from her mother. from her younger years, she begins to make choices that further echo her mother's path. You can find more Bossy reviews of books I've read about mothers and daughters here.

The twelve women in Girl, Woman, Other --each of whom gets a chapter to tell her story, which is often joined in progress--are mothers, daughters, friends, and lovers concerned with sexuality, autonomy, The characters frequently intersperse political, historical, feminist, cultural, and other context throughout During the multiple lessons the characters gave each other about feminism and gender--complete with references I listened to Girl, Woman, Other as an audiobook (as directed by my smarty friend Kirstan) to get the

Waxman offers a nice dose of feminism, realistically fraught mother-daughter interactions, and laugh-out-loud Emily is her teenaged daughter who is unsure what she wants for her future (and is generally irritated When mother and daughter head out for a weeklong visit of east coast colleges with a touring company, bond over an awkward dinner with Jessica's flirtatious college boyfriend; run-ins with an insufferable mother-daughter Waxman offers a nice dose of feminism, realistically fraught mother-daughter interactions, and laugh-out-loud

In Evil Eye, Etaf Rum (author of A Woman Is No Man) considers a small-town North Carolina artist, mother Isn't she supposed to feel thankful for a kind husband, healthy and lovely daughters, and being allowed Rum explores mother-daughter relationships and cycles of dysfunction and abuse in Evil Eye. of divorce, which is considered a life-ruining choice in her culture, may have been able to save her mother The evil eye imagery is poignant, as it carries from her mother to Yara and means different things to

Daughter of the Pirate King is the first in a trilogy from Levenseller and is her debut novel. The second book is Daughter of the Siren Queen, and the third will be Vengeance of the Pirate King.

Emily is her teenaged daughter who's unsure about what she wants from her future and is generally irritated When mother and daughter head out for a weeklong tour of east coast colleges with a touring company, an awkward dinner with Jessica's flirtatious college boyfriend; run-ins with an insufferably snobby mother-daughter author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill) has offered a nice dose of feminism, realistically fraught mother-daughter fantasy trilogy, and a lighter fiction title that still manages to get to the heart of complicated mother-daughter

fiction from Shelley Read; I'm listening to the audiobook version of Mary Otis's Burst, a story about a mother and daughter; and I'm reading Mary Sharratt's historical fiction, Illuminations. Iola, Colorado, in the 1960s. 02 Burst by Mary Otis Mary Otis's debut novel Burst explores a fraught mother-daughter As Viva gets older, she immerses herself in dance and distances herself from her mother. Mary Sharratt also wrote Revelations, about the life of Margery of Kempe, a mother of fourteen whose

ICYMI: Morton offers a strong historical fiction mystery, with assumed identities, dual timelines, twists and turns, and a richly wrought setting. In 1862, a group of artists arrive at Birchwood Manor to relax and allow inspiration to strike, but odd tragedy and destruction unfold instead. A hundred and fifty years later, a young archivist, Elodie Winslow, is drawn to the mystery. She's determined not to stop until she finds out what really happened that summer. This one took a little page time to start moving along for me, but I love Kate Morton’s writing and her rich detail. I’m glad the circumstances of what led to the mystery—yikes!—didn’t become plain until toward the end. With dual storylines, multiple generations, assumed identities, otherworldly beings, wonderful chance (and life-changing) encounters, and a rich English countryside setting. This was lovely. I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Six Historical Fiction Mysteries Sure to Intrigue You. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Kate Morton is also the author of Homecoming, The Forgotten Garden, The Secret Keeper, The House at Riverton, The Distant Hours, and The Lake House.

But when the shop owner, who owns several other local businesses and is a town council member, turns Isn't she supposed to feel thankful for a kind husband, healthy and lovely daughters, and being allowed Rum explores mother-daughter relationships and cycles of dysfunction and abuse in Evil Eye.

But as they catch up on each other's careers and personal lives, explore, eat, drink, and celebrate, For a time, I confused some of the seven characters and their significant others, and the fact that I

Ford shares how she navigated an unforgiving childhood and complicated relationships with her volatile mother In her memoir Somebody's Daughter, Ford explores her complicated relationship with her mother, her endless Somebody's Daughter is beautifully straightforward and honest as the author follows the fits and starts I read Ford's memoir Somebody's Daughter around the same time I read the memoir Crying in H Mart by Michelle

The Book Woman's Daughter is Kim Michele Richardson's stand-alone sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome The story picks up with teenage Honey, Cussy's daughter, while Cussy and her husband are suffering persecution Richardson writes about strong Kentuckians and their environment, and in The Book Woman's Daughter she delves back into the rural "book lady" route as well as remote nurses, moonshiners, fire-spotters, and other Others seek to take advantage of Honey's vulnerable, isolated position.

She must stay home from college to care for her ailing mother, which puts on hold her hopes for her future

I don't know about you, but I'd much rather be an other bird than just the same old thing." comes to take ownership of her deceased mother's apartment. After Zoey's beloved mother died, Zoey's father and stepmother prioritized her stepsiblings emotionally and in every other way. Zoey shows her kind and delightfully unguarded nature as she befriends her mother's neighbors and begins

Harding bases his slim historical fiction novel This Other Eden on a real-life, racially integrated island century later, the Honeys' descendants and their diverse neighbors--some have escaped from trouble, while others Harding's book comes from Shakespeare's Richard II: This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Nature for herself The secluded community in the book is like a large family, dependent on only each other will pass for white, but his past--about which he is guileless--threatens to destroy his future due to others

Nadia is growing up without a mother in San Diego with a distracted father, but there's a Greek chorus-type voice of The Mothers from her church that know what's going on and weigh in on Nadia's decisions and Nadia eventually returns, and at the end, the Mothers speculate about her situation and motivation but The voices of the Mothers were a strength of the book to me, as well as Aubrey's evolution as a character

Bird's Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen is based on the story of an actual female Buffalo Soldier, Cathy Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen was mentioned in the Greedy Reading List Six Historical Fiction Books

Power begins by noting a neglectful mother's superstition and obsession with starting regular fires in the run-down apartment she shares with her teenage daughter--not with keeping the fire lit, but prioritizing defensive when her teenage daughter Margot makes a peep--for example, to ask practically what they should make to eat from the mother's oddly random and unhelpful mix of groceries. The mother-daughter dynamic and home situation is possibly intended to be dramatic and mysterious, but

The book begins with Gupta's apology to her mother for airing the family's dirty laundry rather than She explains that only by telling the truth in this way does she have any hope of allowing others to The book itself is directed to Gupta's mother, and Gupta explains to her mother the reality of past events that emphasizes her estrangement from her parents--and her particular pain in being distant from her mother

with followers desperate for even the most misguided hope and leadership during a drought, a broken mother-daughter rains down on the congregation during the low-tech church services (no one looks up to see the leader's daughter

The twist in The Other Side of Night is fascinating, but I wanted to feel more for the characters, who In Adam Hamdy's The Other Side of Night, the lives of a young boy, a respectable citizen, and a disgraced tragedies, an enigmatic note written in a copy of the novel, a seeming suicide, a disappeared body, and other Much of the page time in The Other Side of Night is spent with characters who exhibit odd, unexplained The Other Side of Night offers an intriguing, dramatic twist that I definitely didn't expect as it edges

But she and the other characters were developed fully. staggeringly tragic challenges, Spera injects some moments of joy—often related to their relationships to each other

The twelve women in Girl, Woman, Other --each of whom gets a chapter to tell her story, which is often joined in progress--are mothers, daughters, friends, and lovers concerned with sexuality, autonomy, Evaristo won the Booker Prize for Girl, Woman, Other. For my full review, check out Girl, Woman, Other. 02 Festival Days by Jo Ann Beard In Jo Ann Beard's The themes feel potentially universal to other small, rural communities.

children's health challenges and takes the reader through the emergence of her son's epilepsy and her daughter's

the World: A Geography of Faith, Learning to Walk in the Dark, Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith, and other

In Other Lands is the epitome of glorious young adult fantasy—there’s a portal; there are mermaids, elves really about personal growth, knowing your own mind and holding convictions, demonstrating loyalty to others interests at heart, forging unlikely bonds, becoming vulnerable to love, and making (and suffering through others ’) mistakes and forgiving and being forgiven—with an otherworldly backdrop of battles, learning other

with her mortality to the terror of facing possibly leaving crucial things undone before her death to others I mentioned Kate's book Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I've Loved) in the Greedy Reading

Unhoneymooners, the racy-sounding Beautiful Bastard series, and Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating, among others

grown daughters as Lara recounts the surprisingly layered story of her youthful romance with an actor In Ann Patchett's newest novel, Tom Lake, Lara's three young-adult daughters reunite at the family's But when Lara shares aspects of a life lived before her children existed, her daughters are led to consider scattered and became something else...until one morning you're picking cherries with your three grown daughters Lara shields her daughters from only a few select elements of the story, which begins as a demand for

straddles the line between novel and memoir in a work whose heart is a love letter to her extraordinary mother family home in New England and travels to her mother's favorite city, London. in order to share scenes from her mother's extraordinary spirit and life. The blurred line between fact and fiction allows the true heart of the book, a daughter's wonder, grief , joy, and yearning for her lost mother, to shine.

Her bitter mother has just had another baby, and her various other siblings are fighting for resources Her home life is hectic, hardscrabble, and emotionally cold, but she has never known life to be any other She has plenty to eat, useful work to do, she learns to love books, she finds laughter. of the story collections Antarctica and Walk the Blue Fields as well as the novella The Forester's Daughter

I loved the father-daughter bond, and Opal is a wonderfully quirky, self-possessed young person. Raine was a wealthy orphan--one of two daughters born to a white British father and an Indian mother, and her three grown daughters as Lara recounts the surprisingly layered story of her youthful romance In Ann Patchett's newest novel, Tom Lake, Lara's three young-adult daughters reunite at the family's But when Lara shares aspects of a life lived before her children existed, her daughters are led to consider

the memoir from actress Jennette McCurdy about being raised by a manipulative, emotionally unstable mother Jennette became a child actress at 6 in order to please her mother, pushing down her own anxiety and disinclination to be the center of attention--and eventually committing to her mother's idea of "calorie Her mother's volatile emotions; upsetting and controlling manner; pushy actions; mental, emotional, and physical abuse; and disturbing codependence with her young daughter make for an uncomfortable read.

A friend's borrowed, rambling home becomes a refuge for unwed mothers and mothers-to-be, with the women spending moments with those lost to us) or evil (creating a whirlwind of negative feeling that shapes others I loved the father-daughter bond, and Opal is a wonderfully quirky, self-possessed young person.

Former child actress McCurdy's account of her mother's narcissistic, harmful, abusive behavior and how Jennette became a child actress at 6 in order to please her mother, pushing down her own anxiety and disinclination to be the center of attention--and eventually committing to her mother's idea of "calorie Her mother's volatile emotions; upsetting and controlling actions; pushy manner; mental, emotional, and physical abuse; and disturbing codependence with her young daughter make for an uncomfortable read.

01 Tom Lake by Ann Patchett In Ann Patchett's newest novel, Tom Lake, Lara's three daughters reunite But when Lara shares the story of a life lived before her children existed, her daughters are led to consider their own lives and their relationship with their mother. State of Wonder, Run, Bel Canto, The Dutch House, The Magician's Assistant, These Precious Days, and other

and I'm listening to a stand-alone historical fiction novel that's also a sequel, The Book Woman's Daughter the difficult relationship with his father to sharing how he attempted to cope with the loss of his mother Bossy reviews of books that involve time travel. 03 The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson The Book Woman's Daughter picks up with teenage Honey, Cussy's daughter, as Cussy and her husband are Richardson writes about strong Kentuckians and their environment, and in The Book Woman's Daughter she

from Rachel Lynn Solomon; One Italian Summer, Rebecca Serle's love letter to Italy, a story about a mother and daughter, which also plays with time; and The Love of My Life, Rosie Walsh's contemporary fiction She is determined to take the trip to Italy she and her mother had optimistically planned during her own Italian adventures, and that her perfect mother kept secrets that shake Katy to her core. Walsh's The Love of My Life, Emma is a marine biologist who's devoted to her husband Leo and their young daughter

; I'm listening to Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner's memoir about growing up Korean-American, her mother , their relationship, and losing her; and I'm reading Somebody's Daughter, Ashley C. “For the rest of my life there would be a splinter in my being, stinging from the moment my mother died Zauner's story is compelling whether or not you're familiar with her or her indie band. 03 Somebody's Daughter In her memoir Somebody's Daughter, Ford explores her complicated relationship with her mother, her endless

O'Farrell turns her attention to Renaissance Italy to tell a historical fiction story of a precocious third daughter Her trusted nurse and former milk-mother Sofia does her best to delay plans to wed the slight young girl family home in New England and travels to her mother's favorite city, London. The blurred line between fact and fiction allows the true heart of the book, a daughter's wonder, grief , joy, and yearning for her lost mother, to exist.

Jennette became a child actress at 6 in order to please her mother, pushing down her own anxiety and disinclination to be the center of attention--and eventually committing to her mother's idea of "calorie Her mother's volatile emotions; upsetting and controlling actions; pushy manner; mental, emotional, and physical abuse; and disturbing codependence with her young daughter make for an uncomfortable read. the difficult relationship between Bobby and her daughter (Kalb's mother) and how it affected each woman's

Each of them must find a way back to themselves and back to each other without their key person in After In Anna Quindlen's newest novel After Annie, the abrupt death of the titular young mother--which occurs struggles and threatens to fall apart--both individually and also to collectively fall away from each other We spend the most page time with Annie's oldest child and only daughter, Ali, as she navigates young

Her mother dedicated her life to searching for her own brother, who disappeared decades ago, and enlisted daughter August in her obsessive research and in her driven questioning of even the most tangentially August needs to put some distance between her mother and herself, and if her mom has taught her anything If you like those too, you might like to check the site for other books in this vein, or check out the

There's a message about faulted mothers doing the best they can here, and there are some opportunities I often feel more invested in one timeline than the other in a dual-timeline story, and here I was more Morton is also the author of The Clockmaker's Daughter, The Forgotten Garden, The Secret Keeper, The

But then her mother's boyfriend and his teen daughter Tallulah move in, suddenly Junie's community theatre land more solidly, in person; on the page I found her sometimes grating with her incessant picking at others stepparent (Junie); navigation of a new relationship (Milo); and unconditional support and rejection of others

Daniella Mestyanek Young grew up the daughter of high-ranking members of The Children of God cult in Her mother was forced to marry the cult's leader when she was thirteen and worked as secretary for "The O'Farrell turns her attention to Renaissance Italy to tell a historical fiction story of a precocious third daughter friends and ex-spouses, live in intimate solitude together, wondering about and worrying about their daughters Lucy's creation of an imaginary, supportive mother and her loving responses to and comfort for Lucy in

young women in an early 1800s British boarding school who fall into a clandestine love and break each other's Raine was a wealthy orphan--one of two daughters born to a white British father and an Indian mother, situation were made known to the conservative school administrators--or if it were made plain to the other students, who are all vying to avoid formal reprimands and seem prone to sacrifice each other to the the Stars (which I loooved; it was one of My Twelve Favorite Books of the Year when I read it), and other

Through Bell's voice we also learn what has shaped the other women of the family: we hear rich stories of Bell's own mother--who fled Belarus in her youth--and her hardships and determination; and we glimpse the difficult relationship between Bobby and her daughter (Kalb's mother) and how it affected each woman's