Like Mother, Like Daughter

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of rape, emotional abuse, death, and cursing.

“You will do whatever it takes. Even when you don’t know what that is. Especially then. And get ready, because this will be your job forever, this fixing of everything, including the things that cannot be fixed. For as long as you both shall live.”

The Prologue of Like Mother, Like Daughter is written in the second-person point of view. The use of “you” in this quote and throughout the Prologue implies that the feelings about motherhood expressed therein are somewhat universal, even though these reflections come from Katrina’s point of view. The use of the phrase “as long as you both shall live” alludes to the standard line from wedding vows. Its application in reference to motherhood suggests that The Bond Between Mothers and Daughters is, in some ways, more enduring than one between spouses.

“‘Hey!’ my dad answers. ‘Walking off the plane!’

And for a split second I think, Oh, good, Mom and I won’t have to eat alone after all. Like the world hasn’t just exploded. I look over at the puddle again. Blood. That’s definitely what that is.

‘Dad, I think something’s happened to Mom.’”

This quote describes Cleo’s early reaction to discovering that her mother is missing. The illogical thought that pops into Cleo’s head, relief that her father would be joining her for dinner with her mother, is typical of a state of shock. She has not yet internalized the terrible truth of the situation.

“Sometimes you didn’t realize how much you needed something until it was offered to you. Turned out I was absolutely desperate for someone to be gentle with me.”

In this quote, Katrina briefly reprises the second-person “you” perspective that was used in the Prologue. Its application here likewise suggests a certain universality to the sentiment being expressed. It also suggests that Katrina creates a distance between herself (the first person, or “I”) and her needs (expressed in the second person here), possibly due to her traumatic past.