Mothers and Daughters in Fiction

Below is just a sampling of the many novels featuring some aspect of the complex relationship between mothers and daughters. We hope you'll find one you enjoy.

Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout [FIC STR]
Amy is sixteen and is distancing herself from her mother. Their relationship is already strained when Amy is discovered having an affair with her math teacher. The town's harsh criticism falls on her mother, Isabelle, who harbors her own secret past. Intriguing, witty and insightful.

Bed and Breakfast by Lois Battle [FIC BAT]
Josie Tatternall invites all three of her grown, estranged daughters home for the Christmas holidays. She is determiend they be reunited with her and eatch other, but surprises are in store for everyone.

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan [FIC TAN, CAS, LP]
San Francisco writer Ruth Young tries to come to grips with her mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis. The two women have always had a difficult relationship. Ruth searches her mother's past to find out about her own Chinese heritage.
Also try Amy Tan's other novels: The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God's Wife for further insights into mother-daughter relationships.

A Mother and Two Daughters by Fali Godwin [FIC GOD]
When beloved husband and father Leonard Strickland dies, his wife, Nell, and their daughters begin to explore their relationship with him and with each other. Nell depended on him for security and each daughter sought his approval. Now they are left behind to find their identities without him.

One True Thing by Anna Quindlan [FIC QUI, CAS, LP]
When successful journalist Ellen decides to come home to care for her dying mother, she enters her mother's world and finds that every assumption she had about her mother is challenged. Her relationship with her revered father is challenged as well.

The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty [FIC MOR]
When Leigh's daughter, Kara, a senior in high school, accidentally hits and kills another high school girl, Leigh struggles to fix the broken relationship with her daughter as well as come to terms with the effect her own neglectful mother had on her childhood.

Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman [FIC LIP]
April Epner leads a quiet life as a high school Latin teacher. And she likes it that way. Enter her birthmother after 36 years. April's adoptive parents have recently died and now April must contend with the glitzy Bernice Graverman, host of the tacky television talk show Bernice G. There's nothing shy about Bernice. The two meet and the tears and laughter follow.

Three Women by Marge Piercy [FIC PIE]
Suzanne Blume is at the top of her game. Her children are grown, she teaches law and has a new boyfriend. Then, her daughter returns home without a job and her always independent mother suffers a stroke and can no longer care for herself. Now all three women must come to terms with their new circumstances and with each other.

What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg [FIC BER, LP]
Ginny Young is flying to California to meet up with her sister, Sharla. The two sisters are going to be with their mother as she awaits the results of a test for cancer. They have not seen their mother since she left them when they were children.

If you liked
The Kite Runner
by Khaled Husseini,
You May also Like...

Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje [FIC OND, CAS, LP]

Caravans by James Michener [FIC MIC]

Crescent by Diana Abu-Jaber [FIC ABU]

The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III [FIC DUB]

The Last Life by Claire Messud [FIC MES]

Lie Down with Lions by Ken Follett [FIC FOL, CAS]

The Mulberry Empire by Philip Hensher [FIC HEN]

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri [FIC LAH, LP]

Featured Read: Too Soon to Say Goodbye
by Art Buchwald

This Pulitzer Prize-winning author checked into a hospice to await what he was told would be the few weeks until his death. As it turned out, Buchwald's stay lasted several months, long enough for him to write one final book. In typical Buchwald fashion, he covers all of the big issues involved with dying and does it with great humor and aplomb. He will be missed.

Website for Readers

www.histfiction.net

If you're a fan of historical fiction, give this website a try. It now offers books by timeline as well as top picks, editors picks, and favorite historical fiction authors. There is a lot to choose from, so take a look.

Don't Forget

Registration for the Adult and Teen Summer Reading Programs begins June 1. Register anytime between June 1 and August 31 and receive a free Hershey Public Library pen. All you need to do to earn a prize and be entered into the raffle drawing is read ANY FOUR BOOKS YOU CHOOSE!

You choose the books and we supply the prizes!

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