Joan’s answer to “Is the mother daughter relationship believable? I'm wondering.” > Likes and Comments

Hi, Joan, I think it you mean Harlow's research when the monkeys deprived of their mothers preferred a cuddly surrogate to the wire-mesh one that provided a feed.
I agree about the relevance, to me it's very much about insecure attachment and how difficult it can be to leave childhood neglect behind.

Yes, I did mean Harlow. Thanks for the correction. I'm embarrassed. Nice to know that you agree with me. The more I think about that book, the better it gets.

Don't worry, there's such potential for creativity in those misnomers, and I had to think really hard to remember the right name! I wonder if there's a general goodreads thread for novels about attachment issues – if not, perhaps I'd better start one!

I totally agree. Many of us struggle with loving - but not liking or being angry - with a parent or family at the same time.