Mothers and Daughters: From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a captivating family drama

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Energetic, interested in everything, she was often preoccupied: “There was always something that needed her attention. This disparity between the siblings is reflected in their terse relationship, made even more strained when their mother reveals some secrets of her own. Making sense of these relationships can be challenging and upsetting, rewarding and fulfilling, all at once. Her and her sister spent their time watching their loving mother bounce from tenderness to bitterness and back again, always waiting for her unpredictable nature to show. Martha is married to Tom and she is her father’s daughter; driven, determined and efficient with a master’s degree and a successful career.

This one just kept in delivering, it had everything I enjoy in a book, sadness and happiness and a happy ending.After she died, I found six copies in the house, and I’m grateful to have her copy, the one with her name written in her beautiful handwriting inside the front cover.

Despite being sisters, Willow and Martha are opposites in how they live their life and what gives them enjoyment.I enjoyed seeing Willow and Martha come together as sisters, and then become accepting of their mother’s decisions. The real drama begins when we discover that Naomi, in her middle sixties, has met a man, Ellis, and is having a serious relationship with him.

Without introducing any spoilers by giving examples, there were moments when I found myself feeling furious with Martha’s controlling, manipulative behaviour as she attempted to derail her mother’s relationship with Ellis! Ms James doesn’t use stereotypes, there are no wicked people or femme fatales which is so refreshing. I look back at so many of the years that Indie and I struggled financially or with the fact that my position was temporary, and we’d have to move. In the midst of a tailspin of poor sexual choices, Rachel leads a cast of women navigating complex relationships with each other, with men, and most significantly with their own bodies.

By contrast for the first time Willow has a boyfriend in Rick, who her family approve of as charming, steady and dependable. A mother is at the center of the story — and her family — in this magical novel, also available in audiobook. Although I had several minor niggles, one in particular relating to the far too convenient disposal of a nuisance character that felt lazy, I was impressed with the storytelling ability of Erica James and would happily read more about these characters or another of her books. T he evening before my mother slipped into the fugue state she was in until she died, I said goodnight with my usual “I love you, Mom. Mother and daughters are very close and talk often but when Naomi meets her new neighbour, Ellis who is actually an old friend and more, Naomi decides that now is the time to move forward, a new Naomi and that includes having Ellis by her side.

Generational stories are always a winner for me – I love the exploration of family dynamics, and the focus it puts on characters, especially when I can fully empathise with them. So this is grief, she thinks, the apprehension of what could have been: “I could feel my mother’s joy on the London Eye, her love of heights and good views. The ambitious scope of the novel—narrated by three Chinese mothers and four American daughters—allows Tan to explore multiple stories, seamlessly moving from generation to generation, from China to America, from tradition to revolution. There are too many questions the mother can no longer answer, too many actions and reactions that were not and now will never be recorded.Like a garden of flowers unfolding, this book offers welcome complexity, depth, and nuance to the topic of mother-daughter connection. Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi, know how to play the game and pull strings in Old Testament times. Author Jill Savage helps moms to realize that the struggle is real and that they are not alone in this honest parenting book. Just about every day I think about the stories I heard for the first time at my mother’s funeral, the affection and respect shown by colleagues and friends that would have made it easier for me to appreciate her when she was alive, and tell her so. She showed up late and apologized politely: “She’d had to crawl up the front stairs on her hands and knees, because while there were elevators inside the building, there was no accessible entrance from the street.