Susan Patterson & James Patterson: THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB
Schedule
Wed, 22 Apr, 2026 at 07:00 pm
UTC-05:00Location
201 W Mifflin St, Madison, WI, United States, Wisconsin 53703 | Madison, WI
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Long before The Mother-Daughter Book Club became a novel, it was an idea born right here in Madison.Join Susan Patterson, proud University of Wisconsin–Madison alumna, and James Patterson, the world’s bestselling author, for a special evening celebrating their heartfelt new novel - one that begins in Wisconsin and is deeply rooted in the friendships, traditions, and formative years shaped on the UW–Madison campus.
In The Mother-Daughter Book Club, three women first meet as freshmen living on the same dorm corridor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Decades later, their lifelong friendship brings them back together in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, alongside their adult daughters, for a book club weekend that becomes a reckoning - of love, ambition, motherhood, and the secrets we keep even from those who know us best.
For Sue Patterson, the setting is personal. A UW–Madison graduate and former All-American swimmer, Patterson drew directly from her own experience of forming enduring friendships on campus - relationships that, like those in the novel, evolved through careers, marriages, parenthood, and the passage of time. Madison isn’t just a backdrop for this story; it’s part of its emotional DNA.
Warm, witty, and deeply observant, The Mother-Daughter Book Club is a celebration of women’s friendships, the complicated bonds between mothers and daughters, and the books that accompany us through every stage of life. It’s also a love letter to Wisconsin...its lakes, its summers, and the kind of connections forged here that last a lifetime.
This event will feature a conversation with Susan Patterson and James Patterson about the novel’s origins, its Wisconsin inspirations, and the enduring power of shared stories, followed by audience Q&A.
Whether you’re a UW student, alum, a devoted reader, a member of a book club, or someone who believes friendships formed in Madison never really leave you, this is an evening not to be missed.
Pre-signed copies of The Mother-Daughter Book Club will be distributed for free to attendees courtesy of the Wisconsin Book Festival, the Madison Public Library Foundation, and additional anonymous support. There will be not be a signing line or personalizations.
In conversation with Doug Moe.
https://www.wisconsinbookfestival.org/events/mother-daughter-book-club-evening-susan-and-james-patterson
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Where is it happening?
201 W Mifflin St, Madison, WI, United States, Wisconsin 53703Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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