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, Contemporary, Summer

352 pages, Hardcover

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.

[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.

[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!

[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.

[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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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!

[Paula Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly loved this book about relationships between mothers and daughters.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come

[Geri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just bad, cliche, too many characters. An insult to my mother daughter book club! Received a copy from book reporter.com it was disappointing

[Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mother daughter book club sounds wholesome, right? Like tea, thoughtful discussions, maybe someone gently crying over a Jane Austen quote.

Incorrect. The Mother-Daughter Book Club takes that sweet little premise and drops it into Lake Como with nine women, decades of complicated friendship history, several simmering grudges, and a long standing tradition called the Night of Secrets, which is essentially emotional Russian roulette but with prosecco.

The setup is actually delicious. Four college friends who have stayed connected over the years through books and late night text threads. Their daughters have grown up in the orbit of this bookish little universe, so now you’ve got five younger women tangled up in the same social web. When glamorous opera star Mariella invites everyone to Lake Como for a long overdue reunion, it’s supposed to be a dreamy getaway full of sightseeing, wine, and literary bonding.

And for about five minutes it is. Then the vibes shift in that extremely recognizable “girls trip where everyone swears there’s no drama but someone packed emotional dynamite in their carry-on” kind of way.

What this book really leans into is the messy ecosystem of long friendships. These women love each other. They also absolutely judge each other. There’s nostalgia, rivalry, old wounds, protective mom instincts, daughter resentment, and the quiet realization that the people who knew you at twenty might not fully know you anymore. Which is juicy territory, emotionally speaking.

The daughters add another layer that I actually enjoyed. They’ve inherited these relationships whether they asked for them or not, and now that they’re older they’re navigating their own identities inside a friend group that technically existed before they were born. It creates this generational mirror where you can see the same patterns starting to repeat, which is fascinating and slightly stressful in the way family dynamics always are.

Now listen. We need to talk about the number of characters. There are nine main women rotating through the narration and the book very wisely includes a character chart at the beginning explaining who belongs to which mother. That chart deserves a medal. Without it I would have spent the first hundred pages whispering “wait whose kid is this again” like I’m trying to remember everyone at a wedding reception.

Once the rhythm settles, the multiple perspectives actually start to feel like a big group conversation where everyone keeps interrupting with their own emotional subplot. Sometimes it works beautifully. Sometimes it feels like trying to keep track of nine different group chats happening at once.

The setting though? Chef’s kiss. Lake Como is carrying serious romantic main character energy. Scenic excursions, stunning views, dreamy meals, late night drinks by the water. It’s the kind of backdrop that makes every emotional revelation feel a little more cinematic. If I were processing decades of friendship drama, I would also prefer to do it while staring dramatically across an Italian lake.

And of course we arrive at the Night of Secrets, which is a long standing tradition where each woman reveals something no one else knows. On paper this sounds like a heartfelt bonding ritual. In reality it has the same chaotic potential as opening a family group chat and typing “I have something to say.”

Some secrets are smaller, some are bigger, and the tension leading up to the reveals definitely keeps the pages turning. I will say my messy little reader heart wanted at least one revelation that sent a wine glass flying across the terrace, but the book tends to keep things more heartfelt than explosive.

By the end I felt like I’d spent a pleasant, slightly dramatic vacation with a group of women who absolutely have a complicated group text history. Not every storyline hit equally hard, and juggling nine perspectives occasionally made my brain do light cardio, but the heart of the story, women navigating friendship across generations and decades, is genuinely charming.

Three stars from me. A scenic, cozy, mildly chaotic emotional getaway.

Huge thank you to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for the ARC, which I happily accepted because if a book promises Lake Como, secrets, and book club drama, I’m obviously going to pack my metaphorical suitcase and show up.

[ShersBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four lifelong friends gather with their daughters for their annual Mother-Daughter Book Club meeting. After a tragic end to one of these get togethers, the tradition quietly dissolves. Three years later, the women are summoned to Italy for a reunion that brings the book club back to life and fills us in on all the details of lives lived and those broken.
One of my favourite moments is when one of the women describes a book she’s reading: “The characters are so vivid, they practically leap off the page and land next to you on the couch. The story is heartwarming, and also a little heartbreaking. It’ll make you laugh, cry. And text your Mom.” These exact words could describe this novel by Susan Patterson and James Patterson. And I love the ‘text your Mom’ at the end.
This is a story about relationships between friends, between mothers and daughters and between the versions of ourselves we share and the ones we keep tucked away. Secrets are kept, some are revealed and when they are shared, they are all received with love, protection, and care.
A delightful bonus is the long list of authors and books mentioned throughout, many of which I haven’t read and now want to explore. The recipes at the end add a charming, cozy touch.
Truly a wonderful, feel good book.

Thank you to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.

[Sharlene Baldeo]

Overall Rating: 3.0

Was it a fun read, yeah. I liked the friends are family dynamic and the mother daughter dynamics as well. All the book name drops were kinda fun too. Found myself running a check list of how many of the books mentioned in THIS book I have already read and there were a lot!!!!

Was hoping this was a 5.0 read. More of a beach read i would say. I did love the cover !

The Mother-Daughter Book Club (aka "THE MDBC") centers on four lifelong college friends—Elin, Grace, Mariella, and Jamie—and their five daughters who reunite at Lake Como three years after a tragic, life-altering book club meeting in Lake Geneva Wisconsin. The story explores their complex bonds, secrets, and love for literature.

Moms:
Elin Mackenzie: Successful and overworked lawyer. Chicago. Married semi happily.
Grace Townsend: minister. Bridgeport Connecticut- forever single
Mariella Marciano: The Diva. Opera singer with residence in San Fran & Lake Cuomo Italy - happily married to money
Jamie Price: Former nanny now fitness instructor Married but its complicated - Wisconsin.

Daughters:
Kathleen Price: law student in Chicago - old twin (mother is Jamie)
Meg Price: wanna be writer working as a restaurant hostess in Chicago (younger twin)
Meredith Mary Townsend: social worker in CT - recently single (mom is grace)
Bridget Mackenzie: Doctor at Mass General in Boston (mom is Elin)
Zoey Marciano: Social Media influence. Lives in Brooklyn. has girlfriend.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very mediocre book. I'd give it 2.5 stars. I enjoyed reading about the setting - it made me want to visit Lake Como for sure. And I appreciated learning about some new books. But tbh, those were the only redeeming qualities of the book. If Susan Patterson did a story that was more focused on the setting and the books and less on what the big secret is at the end of the book, it would have been way better. I also find it very hard to believe that if all of these women are so close and talk so often to one another, then why are all of these secrets just coming out? And some of them aren't even secret-worthy. And how is the aftermath of the accident a secret? How did they explain it otherwise?! And if you're a caretaker that is involved in every aspect of a person's life, their major life change wouldn't take place over a girls weekend, it would be right there next to them. I had a lot of issues with this book. It was pretty left leaning too. The only young person in a relationship is gay? Come on. And it looks like only one of the women has 2 children by choice, everyone else has just one or had a surprise... And then the ending with various relationships. If everything else was a surprise that came out at the MDBC, then why weren't those part of one too? The whole thing is very weird and contrived. They barely talked about books at all! I'm done with Susan Patterson. She should leave the book writing to her husband.

[Stefani Higdon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up The Mother-Daughter Book Club after seeing it in a NetGalley newsletter as both my mom and I are big James Patterson fans (and we actually run our own local book club), so I was excited to give this one a try.

That said, it didn’t really feel like the James Patterson style I’ve come to love, which made it a little harder to get into. There are a lot of characters and keeping track of everyone was a bit of a struggle. I found myself referring a lot to the character introduction pages because there wasn’t much character development upfront.

As the story progressed, it did get a bit easier to follow, and I appreciated that each chapter included chatper titles with who the person was and who they were related to - that definitely helped. But even around 60% in, I still wasn’t totally sure what the central mystery was supposed to be, which made it feel a bit slow.

When things finally came together, the “secrets” ended up being a little underwhelming. I think I was expecting something with higher stakes or more drama.

That said, it wasn’t all bad—it worked well as a lighter, easy read and a good palate cleanser between heavier books. Plus, the recipes at the end were a fun touch!

Overall, not a standout for me, but still an enjoyable enough read.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, when you think of the. name "James Patterson," chick lit -- or, I'm sorry, women's fiction -- doesn't immediately spring to mind. But he and his co-author, Susan Patterson, do it well.

I started reading this book, and I couldn't put it down.

It's the story of the Mother-Daughter Book Club, a group formed by four long-time female friends and their five daughters, and it's told from nine different viewpoints. While they supposedly get together intermittently to discuss books, the women actually share much more than that -- their hopes, their dreams, their failures. And every get-together ends with a shocking night of secrets, where everyone has to fess up to something the others don't know.

Their latest reunion takes place in Lake Como, Italy, and the plot winds together their current experiences there with the happenings of their prior get-together three years earlier -- one that ended in tragedy.

It's not exactly a light read, because tears were streaming down my face at the end -- but the emotional roller-coaster is well worth it. The characters are relatable and likeable for the most part, the book is well-written, as you 'd expect, and there are enough surprises along the way to keep you reading.

A great read!