The Mother-Daughter Book Club

by Susan Patterson, James Patterson

Secrets, spritzes, and second chances

“An entertaining book ... As friends talk books, hopes, dreams … and dishy revelations … it’s romantic love—both old and new … that drive[s] the story forward.” —Kirkus Review
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Between their busy lives and their far-flung residences, the Mother-Daughter Book Club—four longtime college friends and their five daughters—more often discuss the books on their nightstands via 2 a.m. texts than in-person meetings. And maybe it’s just as well, after what happened at their last get-together ...

So it’s an emotional reunion when they finally gather again, this time on the spectacular shores of Italy’s Lake Como. Sightseeing excursions, reminiscing fueled by “Como-politans,” and a hint of vacation romance all build toward the book club’s trademark “Night of Secrets.”

These friends, and sometime rivals, are close readers—of novels, memoirs, and of each other. But as the years and the distance cast shadows and doubt, confidences and sympathies turn into surprising revelations.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Books About Books, Book Club, Italy, Summer, Contemporary

448 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2026

About the author

Susan Solie Patterson has a Bachelor of Science/Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she was also an All-American swimmer. She is the author of Things I Wish I Told My Mother and Big Words for Little Geniuses, which was a New York Times bestseller.

Reviews

[Vanessa Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Follow along with 9 women as they share a journey only friends can endure. Filled with laughter, heartache, fun and secrets some good and some not so good.

[V · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC for my honest review. This book is a feel good book. It follows a group of ladies and their daughters that connected through books. Tragedy threatened to pull the group and families apart but in the end their love pulls them all back together. Also loved the recipes in the back for all the good food mentioned. Not to forget the start that has a list of women and who they are and very detailed so if you forget you can go check that. Must read for me!

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book on a Facebook contest and it was so fun to be able to read it before it was published. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and getting to know each of them in their own voices. This is a great book for a mother daughter book club. I feel like there would be so much to talk about and so many great ideas for discussion.

[Lethina Mirkovic · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this one because the premise had so much promise—a mother-daughter book club is such a fun and meaningful concept. Unfortunately, it just didn’t fully deliver for me.

There were simply too many characters to keep track of between both the mothers and the daughters, which made it hard to stay invested in any one storyline. Because of that, the characters felt underdeveloped, and I never really formed a strong connection to any of them. I kept waiting for more depth or emotional payoff, but it never quite got there.

Overall, it was an easy read with a great idea at its core, but the execution fell a bit flat for me.

Thank you to Net Galley and Little, Brown and Company for the gifted eARC.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a miss for me. I usually love James Patterson’s short chapters but in this book, the changing viewpoints each chapter make the storyline choppy and broken up. This storyline was filled with lots of foreshadowing for something that really was not all that exciting. I found the book overall boring. At least it was a quick read. I am sure that there will be people who will enjoy this book, I just did not.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Korey Krause · Rating 1 out of 5]

This isn’t the type of book I typically read so I may be pretty biased, the book did keep my attention for a road trip… but barely. The book very much stereotyped the younger women in the book and wrote every older women like a teenager to a point where it was annoying, no character in the book is very memorable as their are too many and they are all just as annoying as the last. The way they decided to introduce the 20+ main characters was to have a first chapter where they listed every character and their mom/daughter and their favorite authors (non of which you can remember because again their are 20+ main characters). But it was an extreme feminist new age book that I wouldn’t recommend to most and was quite terribly written.

[Annette Maree · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s started ok. The middle was….ok… and then seriously annoying. The characters don’t quite connect. The book doesn’t quite connect. The 60 year old virgin minister with two kids getting married🫣 not sure many churches would have cheered that on. (I cheer it on - just doesn’t feel likely). The husband speaking of his undying love through an avatar and brain computer interface …. He’s still not functioning people 😵‍💫. So bad!
Shoutout to anyone that writes a book .. go them.
This one wasn’t for me.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ rounded up

[Ashley Dettmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed by this one! I guessed what happened to the husband very early on in the book and it just seemed a bit long & unexciting.

[LindaPf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Susan Patterson, wife of the great, prolific James for 25 years, and co-author with her husband of a series of children’s books, delivers her first fictional adult book in a similar style that he’s known for: lots of quick chapters with seamless transitions, likable characters, and an easy-going storyline. Susan is listed as co-author, but this really seemed to me to be obviously a female author. After all, we have nine main women characters.

The setting of this “MDBC” meeting is in Lake Como, Italy — Elin, Mariella (the Lake Como resident), Grace (these three are UW-Madison alumnae) and Jamie (once a nanny for Elin’s Brigid), and their daughters Brigid, Zoey, Meredith, and twins Kathleen and Meg. We get cleverly introduced to the nine characters with lists of their favorite authors. I would definitely bond with Zoey (Donna Tartt, Judy Blume, Emily Henry, Rebecca Yarros). There is a prologue about the last book club meeting that occurred three years ago in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, themed “The Night of Secrets” and ending abruptly with the spectre of a possible tragedy.

Obviously “The Mother-Daughter Book Club” is meant to be a feel-good summer story/beach read (with a dash of secrets, some small and obvious, others big and emotional). It is the perfect book club, because it comes with recipes at the end (who doesn’t love those book clubs where you try out the dishes featured in the novel?) This is also a tale of complicated friendships, heartbreaks, forgiveness, and compassion among a core group that gets shared with their grown daughters. We should all be so lucky to be a part of a group like this. 4.5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Just some blue ones.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO The image of peony petals strewn across a rainy road is significant.

Thank you to Little, Brown, and Company and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

[Michele Pfrogner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though I do not usually read fiction, the title intrigued me, as well as the authors. It was a fast read, but, unfortunately, I did not really enjoy this book. I did not like the characters or the forced "cutsie-ness," which included treating the daughters as if they were still twelve and not adults. Also, the emphasis on the "Night of Secrets" was tiresome and over-done. One of the characters, who tied the whole plot together during that anxiety-filled sharing of secrets, is not even mentioned in the Epilogue. Finally, the mothers and daughters did not really discuss any books aside from throwing out titles. Perhaps that is the point of the book, but, again, I just wanted to finish it.

[Jeanne-Lasley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book for two reasons—I’m a sucker for any book with Library, Bookstore, or Book Club in the title. Two, it’s co-authored by Susan Solid Patterson from Rockford, IL and who graduated from Guilford High School two years ahead of me. Everyone knew who she was due to her swimming achievements. She still held state titles when MLasley swam for GHS in high school. I was pleasantly surprised at how well-written the book is! She clearly knew the locations she writes about (big U. Wi fan) and really wove multiple stories into one as she told the story of these four longtime friends (with very diverse personalities) and their daughters. Lots of laughs and tears. Hope you agree!

[livi · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE LOVE LOVE
THIS WAS SOOOO GOOD
At the start of this book I felt bored and didn’t really know the point but by page 10 I was hooked. I could not put this down. The whole book made me feel like I was really there. And the bonds between the daughters and mothers was so cute. 🥰 makes me wanna go on a summer Italy tripppp. Also the realationship between Grace and Danny was amazing and the most adorable thing ever. Grace+ Danny ❤️
Yeah definitely a great vacation read, and best to read with family members or your mom ❤️
5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This was all fluff - there is nothing that stood out in this book, the characters were all under developed, it was hard to keep the characters straight, 9 women: 4 moms, 5 daughters - weren't even easily distinguishable by age. The POV changed by chapter and it seems the authors knew the readers would struggle to keep the characters and their relationship to each other straight as there is a list in the beginning of the book and the title of each chapter. The whole book club is only an excuse to get together, the mention of books and authors just feels like name dropping. The ending is the only thing that saved this book for me.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read about 4 college friends who continue getting together as they age, get married, and have children. When their daughters are in their 20s, they start joining their mothers on “girl book club weekends.” I loved the different characters and the talking about books that they are reading. They share adventures, and secrets when they get together. Loved the short chapters and the pacing.

[LilaL · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick fun read about several mothers and their daughters going on a book club trip to Italy. They all have their secrets, which get revealed on secrets night. Some are cute, some are shocking. All help the ladies become even closer than before. One (mother of two) announced she’s a virgin. She used IVF to have her babies.

[Bevany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read for women. Mother's, daughters, friends this book applies to you all. The book follows multiple povs as we see the story of this wonderful group of women who have become family. The relationships in this book are so beautiful. The support shown is beautiful.

[Emma Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ A quick read!!!!! Tbh I really enjoyed it and I felt like I just had to keep reading because I wanted to know what happened. I am a sucker for books about moms and daughters and friendship and this had it all. Definitely an easy read, but kept me interested the whole time.

[Linda Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed all the characters and what a setting! What a fun book this would be for a mother-daughter book club!

[Char · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd rate it as a summer read. Not great but not bad. I thought I'd enjoy it more because of the references to UW Madison. Real friendships do survive over the years.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably 3 1/2 stars. This was a cute book about friendship set on Lake Como. It bordered on being a little corny at times, and they really didn’t discuss books, but a cute story anyway.

[Shelley Salter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice vey easy read about a group of mothers and daughters on vacation in Italy.

[Natalie White · Rating 3 out of 5]

I attended a book event with Sue and James Patterson and received a copy of the book. Sue is a graduate of UW Madison and there were Badger references throughout the book that felt authentic to her experience. The premise of this book was more enticing than the plot itself. While I enjoyed seeing the ties between mothers and daughters, 9 characters was simply too many to keep track of in the short chapter, varying perspective format.

[Barb Boelens · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 Good fun read to the end of my winter vacation!

[Karen Bayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect for a Hallmark movie!

[Heather Goldsberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story with multiple points of views. The ending was great!!!

[Erin Theisen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best parts of this book are the references to UW and a brandy old fashioned recipe at the very end (though I prefer sour over sweet)

[Paula Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly loved this book about relationships between mothers and daughters.

[Sheri Vasconcellos Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book. I wish I belonged to a mother daughter book club like this it was so exciting and emotional, tender,sweet. Its filled with drama and twists. Loved the characters and the storyline

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come