Like Mother, Like Daughter

Cleo is the second primary protagonist of Like Mother, Like Daughter. She is Katrina’s daughter and a 20-year-old English major at New York University. She looks a lot like her mother, but Cleo has an edgier style than her mom; she wears “black makeup, […] many piercings, and […] goth clothes” (173). Cleo is somewhat insecure. She does not see herself as attractive and has difficulty connecting with or trusting people. She demonstrates her tenaciousness and determination in relentlessly searching for her mother, Katrina, unconsciously showing her similarity to her mother through her actions.

Over the course of the novel, Cleo’s feelings toward her mother transform from antagonism to understanding. When Cleo was young, she admired and adored her mother unconditionally. She recalls that she “loved every second of being [at Katrina’s office], watching [her] mom do her thing. Being with her period” (136). However, as Cleo got older and more independent, their relationship became strained. Cleo recalls to her therapist a time she got “in a little bit of trouble” in middle school and Katrina acted “like [she]’d murdered someone” (98). Something “broke” in their relationship when Katrina shamed Cleo for having consensual sex with her long-term boyfriend when Cleo was in high school. Since then, Cleo resented her mother for meddling in her life and otherwise being controlling.

However, when Katrina goes missing and Cleo begins investigating her mother’s life, she learns to begin to see Katrina as a person, not just as a mother. Cleo’s character arc revolves around growing into an understanding of her mother as a three-dimensional person with a complex history. Cleo gains a better understanding of Katrina’s controlling behaviors when she learns more about the trauma that Katrina experienced while at Haven House. She also learns to appreciate her mother’s good qualities, like Katrina’s ability to handle a crisis. She even concedes that Katrina was correct to end her relationship with the drug dealer Kyle Lynch. By the end of the novel, Cleo has even decided to put her mother’s needs ahead of her own desires by forgoing a writing program at Middlebury to help Katrina through her rehab following her injuries.

Aidan is Katrina’s husband and Cleo’s father. He is a secondary antagonist in Like Mother, Like Daughter. Aidan is an unsuccessful documentary filmmaker whose works “had only been sold to the most obscure streaming services” (100). Aidan is a decade older than Katrina and has “a whole aging Brad Pitt thing going on” (85). Aidan grew up in a wealthy family, but he relies on Katrina’s income to keep his documentary production company going.

Aidan is confident and charming, but he is also self-involved. This creates tension between Aidan and Katrina. The most critical example of this is his long-running affair with Janine, their across-the-street neighbor, which has been going on since Cleo was young. When Cleo was very small, Aidan left most of the parenting to his wife so that he could pursue his artistic dreams. When Katrina told him that she felt overwhelmed, he told her, “[Y]ou just need to relax” (25). This is his parenting mantra into Cleo’s young adulthood. When Katrina expresses worry that Cleo is once again dating a drug dealer, Aidan dismisses her concerns by suggesting that she is overreacting.

Aidan’s blasé attitude, selfishness, and tendency to lie to make himself look better compound to make him into a person of interest in the disappearance of his wife. Most suspicious is his decision to steal Katrina’s inheritance to finance his failing documentary production. The discovery of his deceit leads Cleo, with whom he had previously had a good relationship, to see her father in a new light. She begins to recognize his failings as a parent, and this gives her a new appreciation for her mother.

Janine and Annie are the McHughs’ neighbors who act as foils for Katrina and Cleo; that is, their personalities and relationship are a point of contrast for the protagonists. Janine is a laid-back, stay-at-home mother who is seemingly very close with her daughter, Annie. This could not be more different from uptight Katrina and her strained relationship with Cleo.

Katrina feels that Janine is “much better at being a mother” than she is (23). She is “intimated” by Janine’s ease in the role of mother. Janine is “chic” and fashionably dressed, which contrasts with Katrina’s simple, understated look. Whereas Katrina is extremely hands-on as a parent, Janine puts more trust in Annie and gives her more freedom.

Their daughters starkly contrast as well. Cleo is a goth English major. Annie is a blond biology major who joined a sorority. While the girls were once close, they now have an antagonistic relationship following Annie’s decision to spread malicious rumors about Cleo in high school.

The outward differences between these characters mask their core similarities. Both Janine and Katrina are willing to do anything to protect their daughters. This is illustrated by their shared desire to get Kyle Lynch’s work phone, which has photographs of their daughters buying and dealing drugs. They also both worry about their approaches to parenting. When Katrina expresses jealousy of how Janine “and Annie are like best friends,” Janine points out that “some people would say that [she’s] crossed all sort of lines […] and that actually makes [her] the worst mother of all” (196). The narrative ultimately vindicates Katrina’s controlling parenting approach and indicts Janine’s approach when it is revealed that Annie, not Cleo, is using drugs.

Like their mothers, Annie and Cleo have some similarities as well. They both have a “hardness” to their character. Whereas Cleo’s hardness is represented in the punk appearance she presents to the world, Annie’s is “born from the inside out” (173), meaning that her friendly, blond appearance hides her hostile antagonism toward the world.