Mother Daughter Widow Wife
A Novel
By Robin Wasserman
Read by Jayme Mattler, Jenni Barber and Emily Tremaine
Table of Contents
About The Book
*Finalist for the 2021 Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction*
From the author of Girls on Fire comes a “sharp and soulful and ferociously insightful” (Leslie Jamison) novel centered around a woman with no memory, the scientists studying her, and the daughter who longs to understand.
Wendy Doe is a woman with no past and no future. Without any memory of who she is, she’s diagnosed with dissociative fugue, a temporary amnesia that could lift at any moment—or never at all—and invited by Dr. Benjamin Strauss to submit herself for experimental observation at his Meadowlark Institute for Memory Research. With few better options, Wendy feels she has no choice.
To Dr. Strauss, Wendy is a female body, subject to his investigation and control. To Strauss’s ambitious student, Lizzie Epstein, she’s an object of fascination, a mirror of Lizzie’s own desires, and an invitation to wonder: once a woman is untethered from all past and present obligations of womanhood, who is she allowed to become?
To Alice, the daughter she left behind, Wendy Doe is an absence so present it threatens to tear Alice’s world apart. Through their attempts to untangle Wendy’s identity—as well as her struggle to construct a new self—Wasserman has crafted an “artful meditation on memory and identity” (The New York Times Book Review) and a journey of discovery, reckoning, and reclamation. “A timely examination of memory, womanhood and power,” (Time) Mother Daughter Widow Wife will leave you “utterly riveted” (BuzzFeed).
From the author of Girls on Fire comes a “sharp and soulful and ferociously insightful” (Leslie Jamison) novel centered around a woman with no memory, the scientists studying her, and the daughter who longs to understand.
Wendy Doe is a woman with no past and no future. Without any memory of who she is, she’s diagnosed with dissociative fugue, a temporary amnesia that could lift at any moment—or never at all—and invited by Dr. Benjamin Strauss to submit herself for experimental observation at his Meadowlark Institute for Memory Research. With few better options, Wendy feels she has no choice.
To Dr. Strauss, Wendy is a female body, subject to his investigation and control. To Strauss’s ambitious student, Lizzie Epstein, she’s an object of fascination, a mirror of Lizzie’s own desires, and an invitation to wonder: once a woman is untethered from all past and present obligations of womanhood, who is she allowed to become?
To Alice, the daughter she left behind, Wendy Doe is an absence so present it threatens to tear Alice’s world apart. Through their attempts to untangle Wendy’s identity—as well as her struggle to construct a new self—Wasserman has crafted an “artful meditation on memory and identity” (The New York Times Book Review) and a journey of discovery, reckoning, and reclamation. “A timely examination of memory, womanhood and power,” (Time) Mother Daughter Widow Wife will leave you “utterly riveted” (BuzzFeed).
Reading Group Guide
This reading group guide for Mother Daughter Widow Wife includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Introduction
Exploring the intricacies of identity and memory, Mother Daughter Widow Wife is a powerful investigation of who, and what, a woman can become. A vivid examination of the iconic roles of mother, daughter, widow, and wife, this unforgettable novel traces the journey of a woman with no memory of her past—Wendy Doe, subject of experimental observation at the Meadlowlark Institute for Memory Research—the daughter she left behind, and the research assistant who becomes fascinated with her plight. A jaw-dropping, multivoiced journey of discovery, reckoning, and reclamation, Mother Daughter Widow Wife is an ambitious inquiry into selfhood by an expert and enthralling storyteller.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
1. After dinner with her mother, Lizzie reflects on “how inessential she’d discovered herself to be” (17). What makes her feel inessential in this moment? Her mother, her childhood home? Leaving Los Angeles and her boyfriend? The thought of Wendy Doe?
2. Why does Alice decide to retrace her mother’s steps?
3. Why does Elizabeth invite Alice to stay? What is she looking for, in Alice?
4. Describe the purpose of the chapters written from Wendy’s point of view. Usually short on plot, what do they add to the story?
5. After an important conversation with Wendy, Lizzie theorizes that autobiographical memory forms the self. Do you agree or disagree?
6. Why does Wendy say she’s not interested in discovering who she was before the fugue state? Do you believe her?
7. Describe the story of Augustine, as told by Elizabeth. Can you draw a connection between her life and Wendy’s? Lizzie’s?
8. Elizabeth says, “History, like writing, is an exercise in decision making” (104). What does she mean by this? How does this truism play out in her life?
9. The Meadowlark Institute occupies a great deal of space in this novel, serving as home and workplace to varying degrees for the women in its orbit. What’s the relevance of the institute’s history? Of its layout and location?
10. Why does Alice seek out Zach? What does she get from their encounters? How does his betrayal affect her?
11. Wendy is fascinated by people who can’t stop remembering—twelve-step groups, survivor groups, PTSD support groups. Dr. Strauss calls her capacity to forget her “superpower.” Do you think this is accurate? What does he mean by that?
12. Describe the beginning of Lizzie and Dr. Strauss’s sexual relationship. Who initiates it? What changes between them? What stays the same?
13. Alice’s father calls Wendy Doe a “symptom . . . Her mother was her mother” (260). How do you believe Wendy Doe fits into Karen Clark?
14. What are the dimensions of Mariana’s relationship with Dr. Strauss? What did she do for him? What did she mean to him, and him to her?
15. How does the secret of Alice’s parentage change your understanding of the characters, particularly Dr. Strauss?
16. How would you describe the relationship between Lizzie and Wendy? When Karen recovers her memory, what happens to that relationship?
17. Do you think Karen remembered any part of Wendy’s experience? What’s the role of baby Alice in this process?
18. At the end of the novel, what does Elizabeth decide? Does she move forward through remembrance or forgetting?
Enhance Your Book Club
1. Read Robin Wasserman’s debut adult novel, Girls on Fire.
2. To learn more about Robin Wasserman and Mother Daughter Widow Wife, visit www.robinwasserman.com/.
Introduction
Exploring the intricacies of identity and memory, Mother Daughter Widow Wife is a powerful investigation of who, and what, a woman can become. A vivid examination of the iconic roles of mother, daughter, widow, and wife, this unforgettable novel traces the journey of a woman with no memory of her past—Wendy Doe, subject of experimental observation at the Meadlowlark Institute for Memory Research—the daughter she left behind, and the research assistant who becomes fascinated with her plight. A jaw-dropping, multivoiced journey of discovery, reckoning, and reclamation, Mother Daughter Widow Wife is an ambitious inquiry into selfhood by an expert and enthralling storyteller.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
1. After dinner with her mother, Lizzie reflects on “how inessential she’d discovered herself to be” (17). What makes her feel inessential in this moment? Her mother, her childhood home? Leaving Los Angeles and her boyfriend? The thought of Wendy Doe?
2. Why does Alice decide to retrace her mother’s steps?
3. Why does Elizabeth invite Alice to stay? What is she looking for, in Alice?
4. Describe the purpose of the chapters written from Wendy’s point of view. Usually short on plot, what do they add to the story?
5. After an important conversation with Wendy, Lizzie theorizes that autobiographical memory forms the self. Do you agree or disagree?
6. Why does Wendy say she’s not interested in discovering who she was before the fugue state? Do you believe her?
7. Describe the story of Augustine, as told by Elizabeth. Can you draw a connection between her life and Wendy’s? Lizzie’s?
8. Elizabeth says, “History, like writing, is an exercise in decision making” (104). What does she mean by this? How does this truism play out in her life?
9. The Meadowlark Institute occupies a great deal of space in this novel, serving as home and workplace to varying degrees for the women in its orbit. What’s the relevance of the institute’s history? Of its layout and location?
10. Why does Alice seek out Zach? What does she get from their encounters? How does his betrayal affect her?
11. Wendy is fascinated by people who can’t stop remembering—twelve-step groups, survivor groups, PTSD support groups. Dr. Strauss calls her capacity to forget her “superpower.” Do you think this is accurate? What does he mean by that?
12. Describe the beginning of Lizzie and Dr. Strauss’s sexual relationship. Who initiates it? What changes between them? What stays the same?
13. Alice’s father calls Wendy Doe a “symptom . . . Her mother was her mother” (260). How do you believe Wendy Doe fits into Karen Clark?
14. What are the dimensions of Mariana’s relationship with Dr. Strauss? What did she do for him? What did she mean to him, and him to her?
15. How does the secret of Alice’s parentage change your understanding of the characters, particularly Dr. Strauss?
16. How would you describe the relationship between Lizzie and Wendy? When Karen recovers her memory, what happens to that relationship?
17. Do you think Karen remembered any part of Wendy’s experience? What’s the role of baby Alice in this process?
18. At the end of the novel, what does Elizabeth decide? Does she move forward through remembrance or forgetting?
Enhance Your Book Club
1. Read Robin Wasserman’s debut adult novel, Girls on Fire.
2. To learn more about Robin Wasserman and Mother Daughter Widow Wife, visit www.robinwasserman.com/.
About The Author
Photo Credit:
Robin Wasserman
Robin Wasserman is the author of Girls on Fire, an NPR and BuzzFeed Best Book of the Year. She is a graduate of Harvard College with a Master’s in the history of science. She lives in Los Angeles, where she writes for television.
About The Readers
Jayme Mattler
Jenni Barber
Emily Tremaine
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (July 7, 2020)
- Runtime: 11 hours and 6 minutes
- ISBN13: 9781797106540
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): Mother Daughter Widow Wife Unabridged Audio Download 9781797106540
- Author Photo (jpg): Robin Wasserman Photo Credit:(0.1 MB)
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