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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher

LIKE MOTHER

Cassandra Austin

Secrets, lies, and crying babies; everyone has a breaking point. It's 1969 and mankind has leapt to the moon, but a young mother in small-town Australia can't get past the kitchen door. Louise Ashland is exhausted her husband, Steven, is away on the road and her mother, Gladys, won't leave her alone. At least her baby, Dolores, has finally stopped screaming and is sweetly sleeping in her cot. Right where Louise left her. Or is she?
As the day unravels, Louise will unearth secrets her mother and perhaps her own mind have worked hard to keep buried. But what piece of family lore is so terrible that it has been kept hidden all this time? And what will exposing it reveal about mother and daughter? Like Mother explores what is handed down from generation to generation, and asks us wheth- er a woman's home is her castle or her cage. Cassandra Austin is a homesick Australian who lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. The author of two previous novels with Penguin Random House Australia, she worked as a criminologist and documentary film-maker, before deciding to pursue a career in writing. She is currently working with her husband, Adam Simon, co-creator of the TV show Salem, on a new TV pitch.
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Published 2020-07-01 by Hamish Hamilton

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LIKE MOTHER has the pulse of a psychological thriller and the beating heart of a twisted love story about the powerful connections between children and parents.

LIKE MOTHER will appeal to lovers of women's fiction with a dark edge. Strains of Mommie Dearest can be found in the co-dependent motherdaughter relationship, while the central mystery of the missing baby will ensure rapidly turning pages. Read more...

There are novels about motherhood, the decay of suburban Australia, marriage, secrets and deceit, and then there is LIKE MOTHER. Original, forebodingly beautiful, effortlessly textured and nuanced, Austin delivers a gothic exploration of what happens when men view women as an inconvenience and motherhood is treated like a disease of the heart. Her characters are unforgettable gifts.

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