Like Mother, Like Daughter

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual harassment, rape, emotional abuse, and substance use.

Katrina is the protagonist of Like Mother, Like Daughter. She is a “fixer” for the white-shoe law firm Blair, Stevenson. Her job is to cover up the embarrassing, sometimes illegal activities of the employees of clients of the law firm. For example, she met with a teacher at Dalton, an exclusive Manhattan private school, to prevent a client’s son from being expelled after he was caught doing vandalism. Katrina is separated from Aidan, her husband, and somewhat estranged from her college student daughter, Cleo. She is “beautiful” and has a polished look that reflects her uptight personality.

Over the course of the novel’s narrative, Katrina reflects on The Bond Between Mothers and Daughters, analyzing where she made mistakes with her own daughter and her desires to improve their relationship. In some ways, Katrina is highly self-critical of her parenting decisions. For instance, Katrina reflects on how she responded when Cleo came to Katrina as a high school freshman to tell her that she had had sex with her boyfriend for the first time.