The Someday Daughter

Ambition strains a mother-daughter relationship in this sophisticated and evocatively wrought novel by O’Clover (Seven Percent of Ro Devereux). Eighteen-year-old Audrey St. Vrain planned on spending the summer at a pre-college biomedical science intensive with her boyfriend, not touring the country as “the flustered daughter of a woo-woo celebrity” to promote her mother’s self-help book, Letters to My Someday Daughter. The public expects Audrey, the eponymous someday daughter, to have an “idyllic, beatific bond” with her mother, but in reality, she’s been at boarding school since sixth grade, pursuing her academic goals while her mother built her wellness empire. As the tour shines an uncomfortable spotlight on the pair’s estrangement, Audrey tries to focus on studying with her doctor mentor Sadie Stone, but intense anxiety, growing closeness to Dr. Stone’s laid-back intern Silas Acheson, and a latent desire to connect with her mother challenge her plans for the future and understanding of the past. O’Clover employs dry humor to highlight the blurred lines between public and private life in celebrity-obsessed culture, and the messy honesty of Audrey’s relationships supports the slowly evolving character arcs that drive the novel. Main characters follow a white default. Ages 13–up. Agent: Katie Shea Boutillier, Donald Maass Literary. (Feb.)