A Mother and Two Daughters

by Gail Godwin

At the death of Leonard Strickland, beloved Southern gentleman, husband and father, his family is faced with the unknown. Nell always relied on the husband of her youth for security and friendship. Fiercely independent Cate and perfect Lydia have spent their lives vying for the love and approval their father generously gave. And as each woman begins to view her life, her past, and the possibilities of the future with new eyes, each belatedly discovers that life and death are impossible to plan, and that the past that has kept them apart can bring them closer to themselves and one another....

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Novels, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Womens

544 pages, Paperback

First published January 8, 1982

About the author

Gail Kathleen Godwin is an American novelist and short story writer. She has published one non-fiction work, two collections of short stories, and eleven novels, three of which have been nominated for the National Book Award and five of which have made the New York Times Bestseller List.

Godwin's body of work has garnered many honors, including three National Book Award nominations, a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts grants for both fiction and libretto writing, and the Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Five of her novels have been on the New York Times best seller list.
Godwin lives and writes in Woodstock, New York.

Reviews

[Jennifer nyc · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first things I noticed about Gail Godwin’s, A Mother and Two Daughters, was its biting wit used just right. But although both daughters were filled with sharp edges, the overall feel of the novel was soft and full, like a water balloon that neither fully held shape, nor leaked into a mess. Somehow the writing itself felt more soothing and supportive to me as a reader than any of the women characters did for each other in the book. This wasn’t a deal-breaker, though, since it delivered in spades a lot of what I love: intimacy into beings who are curious enough to question, observe, and question again; immersive language that held me while rousing me with humor; sympathetic, sometimes relatable females coming of middle-age; and a reminder of the time in which my own life began.

Reading A Mother and Two Daughters was like finding a time capsule from my childhood: it felt like the stuff that made me who I am. In 1978, I was 10 years old. My mother was a young, divorced 30, and we were friends. I remember the long gas lines described, and the hostage crisis of ’79. But mostly I remember the view towards womanhood through my mother’s eyes—from spirited adventurer to rage against the cage of being a wife and mom. So, the worldviews examined here rang true to me, and even had the feel of the proud progressive thinking from that time around issues like feminism, racism, and sexuality. It was captivating to see those views from here and now—how far we’ve come, how far we can go in another 45-years time. Back then we were already starting the conversation about how destructive people were to the planet: it was both comforting and terrifying to me that we’ve been having the same conversation for so long.

This story is highly female—so much so that they kill the father off. It’s on the back of the book, it’s the inciting incident, and yet somehow for the sisters it never felt like much of a change. Cate, the oldest and the protagonist, and Lydia, the youngest, both let us into their thoughts, but they were too infrequently about the sudden loss of their dad. The rage, the fear, the helplessness they expressed seemed to come from trajectories already in motion long before he died. In some ways, the book asked, “do we need men at all?”

The story ended on a note too pat, too filmic, like I could see the camera panning out to capture how each character was neatly wrapped. I would have preferred to leave some of their fates unresolved in favor of blowing open the sister dynamic way more than was done, or at least see Cate fight for what she got. Instead it came too easily to her. For all Cate’s soul-searching and need to forge her own path, any change she experienced seemed to happen “off stage.” I wanted to see her strong spirit wrestle with her core desire, but I still don’t even know what that was. So, I fell a little out of love in the end, four stars. But what a highly readable, insightful book, told in an enjoyably unique voice (Godwin even managed to make the telling of nighttime dreams interesting). I was invested in these lives, I was immersed in a particular community, and I was invited below the surface just enough to make it all worthwhile.

Buddy-read with Julie G., here is her review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Julie G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you remember? . . . Does it still hurt here? . . . Oh, it all passes, but that's the beauty of it, too.

Closing the back cover on this book, the hangover started immediately. . . a dull pain behind my right eye, then an incoming sensation of hopelessness, malaise, discontentment.

I'll pick at my food now, wonder why real people (as opposed to fictional characters) are so dull and disenchanting.

Sigh. Yep. I've got it bad.

For what or for whom did she yearn?

I honestly don't know if I should give this novel 4 or 5 stars. It is imperfect; the characters are well-developed, but Ms. Godwin could have dug deeper. Plot points weren't always fully explored; I felt somewhat cheated at times, felt like she was right on the verge of a The Grapes of Wrath-quality epic, but fell slightly short of her goals (or perhaps my goals?).

And, yet, I was completely immersed in Godwin's world building. She built this particular world, in 1982, one that so aptly depicted the real world around her, as she wrote it, but also an imaginary world of fascinating, interconnected people.

Oh, and have I mentioned that the novel takes place in North Carolina? I mean. . . here I am, running around my new state, like it's America's playground, and almost the whole story takes place HERE, including parts of it that take place in my actual backyard, like 3-7 minutes from my house.

Chapel Hill is an oasis of sophistication in a surrounding desert of bigotry.

Gail Godwin is a writing icon, still with us, at 86, and, like so many of her indefatigable peers (Penelope Lively, Alice Munro, and Hilma Wolitzer), she is still rocking our world with her work!

Okay—I'm going to give it 5 stars, despite its imperfections. No, it isn't perfect, but I'd like to crack it open and read it all over again. (Thanks for making me drool with envy, Ms. Godwin).

The terrifying swing of the pendulum. Diastole/systole. Hegel's thesis/antithesis. Forward, backward. You had to, somehow, keep moving forward, without getting sucked into the abysses or hit by the pendulum.

[Martena Warner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book. I have read thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, and yet I can always return to this book and find it as beautifully written and insightful as when I first found it. Gail Godwin understands people frighteningly well and is completely honest in her writing.

[Gillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed re-reading this book. It is set in the American South in the late 1970s and it is representative of its time. The relationships between mother and daughters is true-to-life and believable. It translates well to today. When I first read it I was the age of Cate and Lydia, while now I am in my 60s like Nell.

[Jenalyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like it. The amorality was a deal breaker.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

what an annoying family.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorite books. Interesting, inspiring, and believable path of three women establishing their respective lives of independence.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

More like 1.5 stars. Godwin is a talented writer, I just hated the characters and most of the plot.

[Laurie Stoll · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not only did this story miss the editing department, it also is lacking in any substance.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was drawn to the title as I was one of the same trio portrayed in the novel.
As I read the perspective of all three women, I kept thinking, which sister am I, or am I both at different times-and of course, how the mother related to each and the impact of that particular relationship on each of her daughters-I was truly fascinated by how the characters navigated their relationships, and their own perceptions of themselves as their circumstances shifted-

[Barbara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to read this in college for my English literature class. My teacher loved her work. I did not. The author came to my university and read from her novel - can't remember if it was this book or not - but we were required to attend the reading.

[Peg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this one twice. The first time as a young woman and I had taken this story from my frame of mind at the time. I loved it then too.

Then 20 years later I read it again. I took something more from it at that time.

[Sandi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Full page monologues?! I just couldn't even finish, especially with no point to the entire book. I kept feeling like these characters were mired in the 1940s and 50s, but apparently they weren't.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story of how a woman & her two grown daughters dealt with the husband/father's sudden death spoke to me on several levels.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book many years ago, based on my sister's recommendation, and liked it a lot.

[Janis Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rated this a 2, but for a "women's book, I really liked it much more than that. If we weren't on a scale of literature I would have rated it higher. Just a nice "girl's read."

[Mary E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved it

[Becky Myrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still relevant

[H-Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read a long time ago so remember no details, just a feeling of liking the author.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but is about 3 times longer than it needs to be. It gets a bit burdensome and too much information - I think it would be just as good with less words.

[Karen Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books...

[Marjorie Towers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful writing as usual but not like Father Melancholy's Daughter or Evensong. Disappointed in the low bar set for morality and truth. Not redemptive.

[Greer Brightbill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty enjoyable. I had a lot of fun relating the dynamics between the sisters and Nell to my own sister and mother. I found that sometimes I was Cate, and sometimes Lydia. Good, steady reading.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish. Dull.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this as much as The Good Husband. It began and ended well, but faded in the middle. Nell is the mother (a fine character) and Cate and Lydia are the daughters. Godwin is interested in how a tragic family event (in this case the death of a much loved father and husband) plays out as women search to make their lives what they want them to be. I felt that the daughters were vehicles for Godwin’s ideas rather than characters with their own internal logic (or even believable illogicality). Very much an 80s work, with its exploration of women’s roles. If I had read the novel then, it would have said a lot more to me. But I think Godwin rides the line well between popular and serious fiction.

[Kathie Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this twice. Once when my two daughters were young and I was a young mother. Again when I was in my 50's and my girls were in college. Now that those girls are in their late 30's and 40's, I want my daughter who reads a lot to go over it again WITH me. I think we would have lots to discuss.

[Phyllis Barlow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book will seem dated to a lot of people, and I guess it is. It was published in 1982 and was set in the 70's; the time before cell phones and computers.
It hit a lot of the topics of the day, and some of the stereotypes, but someone like me who grew up in the South in the 60's and 70's this will seem very familiar.
Very enjoyable story.

[Vikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story takes place in South Carolina. The mother's, Nell's,husband dies at the beginning of the book. There are two daughters, Lydia and Cate. They are very smart but there are conflicts among the two. It told of their everyday life. I thought this book was very good.

[Yvonne · Rating 1 out of 5]

After reading Father Melancholy's Daughter and Evensong, this book was a real disappointment. The characters were self-absorbed, nobody had a moral compass, and the use of the epilogue to wrap things up seemed like cheating. I wouldn't have finished it if I had known.