The polyphonic narrative structure feels suitable for a novel that draws heavily on musical composition, particularly Bach’s fugues, which Wasserman adeptly uses to illustrate the tractile nature of memory. And though the middle of the book requires some patience, there are plenty of philosophical threads to tease out and ponder along the way ... The lives of the four narrators—Lizzie, Wendy, Alice and Elizabeth—intersect to reveal one big, satisfying secret ... Wasserman’s ability to weave big ideas seamlessly into plot is impressive. The result is a warning against the dangers of letting others warp our identities while remaining cleareyed about the importance and inescapability of human connection ... Wasserman...leaves readers with the feeling that erosion of self is a fate worth fearing.
The complex multiple point of view characters are tied together through themes and intersecting timelines ... This is an unexpected novel, full of philosophical questions about how we become who we are, what it takes to become someone else, and how much power others hold over even our own understandings of self. Mother Daughter Widow Wife is not an easy read, but it’s a compelling one.
...a propulsive, psychologically driven novel ... In Lizzie and Alice, we get different variations of the same journey, but neither woman is exactly relatable or endearing. Wasserman keeps them at arm’s length to let them define themselves, a choice that is equal parts successful and frustrating, as it is difficult to get through a novel with no one to really root for ... This is an incredibly stimulating and brainy novel, but it is also compassionate and compelling, even when the plot gets a little ahead of itself ... This is a carefully plotted and well-constructed novel—written in a tone that feels provocative and wicked.
Wasserman...asks big questions about how well we can really know another person, the nature of truth as it relates to memory, and what this all means for how we perceive ourselves. While the novel takes a while to get moving, it ultimately has some great twists and all those questions Wasserman raises make it an excellent book-discussion choice.
If it sounds a little soap opera-ish, it is, something the book lightly acknowledges, but the framework is sound. However, the narrative is interrupted frequently by side trips into scientific/psychological disquisition, Lizzie's ruminations on 'mistress-hood,' narrative theory, even soap-opera structure, and more. In the end, one unforeseen mystery is solved—Alice's paternity—but a larger one is not: What has become of Wendy/Karen this time? ... For readers of stylish psychological thrillers who can be forgiven for skimming.
Wasserman’s shrewd, beguiling follow-up to Girls on Fire unpacks the ways three women’s lives are affected by a sexual predator ... Wasserman’s prose starkly conveys the power sought and held by Benjamin...and she methodically moves the story toward a disturbing revelation about the connections among Wendy, Lizzie, and Alice. This examination of how one man in power can abuse the women closest to him delivers the goods.
Told in alternating perspectives by Alice, Elizabeth, and Lizzie, the novel is like a knot being slowly unraveled. While a bit disorienting at first, Wasserman’s choice to differentiate between Lizzie’s point of view (the past) and Elizabeth’s (the present) succeeds narratively and thematically ... In addition to meditating on personhood and recollection, Wasserman deftly explores power dynamics, ambition, and the lingering scars of trauma. A beautifully written exploration of identity, memory, power, and agency.
