In this post I take you on a virtual tour of the locations in Like Mother, Like Daughter – but be warned: there are spoilers below! If you haven’t yet read it, please grab a copy and come back when you’ve reached the end!
When I wrote The Guilty Wife, it was always going to be set in a big city. It had to be. One of the ideas I wanted to explore was around the anonymity you can find in a city like London, and I wanted to see how far I could take that. Could you get away with murder by blending in with a crowd? Could you be framed for something you didn’t do, when CCTV is everywhere? London was the perfect location for it.
The Other Sister needed to be set in a location where there was a major news studio, and a fast news cycle. Once again, London was a logical place to set it, and honestly, I love writing about this city!
But when I sat down to write Like Mother, Like Daughter, I knew right away that I wanted the story to unfold in Adelaide, South Australia.
Why is Like Mother, Like Daughter set in Adelaide?
It’s the city I grew up in, a place I left when I was sixteen and returned to at eighteen, when I saw it with fresh eyes. After two years in the UK, the beaches I’d once taken for granted were suddenly magical, and the city I once thought was bustling and overwhelming was charming and relaxed.
It’s where I met and married my husband, where my family is, where I visit as often as time and money allow, each time falling a little bit more in love with my hometown and all of its quirks and charms. It’s a visually stunning destination, and I thought it’d be fun to write a dark, twisted story set in a laid-back, beachy location.
Besides, it might be beautiful, but it’s been the backdrop to many a terrifying crime over the years. Just check out these unsolved mysteries!
Key locations in Like Mother, Like Daughter
When I visited in early 2019 to meet with an adoption specialist, a foster care worker and a police officer to research Like Mother, Like Daughter, I already knew roughly where each scene was going to be located. But I was able to drive or walk around the streets where Imogen, Kat, Dylan and Brad walked, getting to know them in detail and taking photos to help me remember. Here are some of the places I visited.
The Braidwood Home
Kat and Dylan, and their kids Imogen and Jemima, live in the coastal suburb of Seacliff. As some background (which never actually made it into the book, but which helped me to write it nonetheless), they purchased their house years ago, soon after they were married (which is how they could afford to live somewhere so close to the beach!) and Dylan, being a builder, worked on it over the years to make it their perfect family home. As with most houses in Adelaide, it’s single story with a decent-sized backyard (perfect for BBQs), located on a quiet residential street.
This street is in roughly the location where I imagine the Braidwoods live – but there was no specific road I had in mind.
The beach!
The Braidwoods live very close to the beach – a couple of blocks, in fact. The beach where they play cricket in one of the book’s earliest chapters is Seacliff, where I’ve had many a barbecue, walk, paddleboard, and sunset fish and chips.
I even spent Christmas Day there a few years ago, and my 21st birthday party was at the surf lifesaving club just down the road. So many memories. Such a stunning beach.
And yes, just like in the book, there are signs warning of snakes in the long grass that separates the road from the sand. *Shudders*
Imogen’s Escape
Roughly a 20-minute walk along the beach from the Braidwoods is Jetty Road, Brighton – packed with cafes, restaurants, gift shops and beauticians. It’s extremely laid-back, and on any given day you’ll find barefoot surfer-types (not actual surfers, as the water’s far too calm around there), yummy mummies and couples with their dogs strolling or enjoying a coffee or brunch at one of the many outdoor tables.
It’s on this street, in front of a hairdresser with a colourful mural, that Imogen meets Brad late at night, hopping into his car and setting off a chain of dangerous events.
Kat’s search
Noarlunga was little-known to me until recent years. A family member moved close to this beachside suburb, so when I’ve visited in the past few years I’ve spent time on the beautiful beach (to be fair, most of Adelaide’s beaches are pretty breathtaking) where you can, at low tide, see the reef popping out above the water – a marine protected area that’s a diving and snorkelling hotspot.
When Imogen goes missing, Kat drives up and down the coast, unsure where to start looking, ending up at Noarlunga where she rushes into a cafe to ask if anyone’s seen her daughter.
Another stop on Kat’s frantic search – this one perhaps a bit more logical – is Westfield shopping centre in the suburb of Marion, A.K.A. the teen hangout when I was growing up. There’s a cinema, an arcade, a food court, and plenty of shops to browse. Basically, your average mall, but when I was fourteen and allowed to wander around without parental supervision, it was the closest thing to freedom I could get.
My first job was there, in a cafe called Milky’s, and years later I worked opposite the cafe at a bookshop. Yep, dream job.
Brad’s home
Finding the location for Brad’s home was a lot of fun. I needed it to be in or around Adelaide, but in a location remote enough that no one would be suspicious of Brad’s comings and goings, or see Imogen being brought there. Nosy neighbours weren’t an option. At first I spent time navigating Google Maps, trying to find somewhere that was close to town (I liked the idea of Imogen being right under Kat and Dylan’s noses the whole time) while also being secluded. Because Adelaide is so sprawling (it stretches along almost 100km of coastline), the hills – far less densely populated – seemed like the best way to go.
When I arrived in Adelaide, I asked my Dad if he’d drive me around the hills to find a location ‘where no one would hear someone scream.’ Dad didn’t seem too disturbed by this, so one hot afternoon (after brunch at the beach – what a lifestyle!) we ended up winding our way through dusty, narrow roads lined by old, gnarled gum trees.
We ended up at Brownhill Creek Recreation Park (in an area known as Wirraparinga in the Kaurna language), a strip of protected land that follows the course of Brown Hill Creek, with occasional homes dotted on either side. The road that runs alongside the creek gets narrower and narrower until you start to wonder if you’ll actually be able to turn your car around. It’s at this point that the road becomes restricted to residents only – and the residents are few.
It was perfect! I knew it was the place to set Brad’s (fictional) house with its dilapidated shed out the back. I could picture Kat, in a state of panic, speeding down the tight, winding road in the middle of the night, the gum trees lit up like ghosts by her headlights.
And with that, I had all of the key locations in Like Mother, Like Daughter scoped out. There’s a short scene in the city, and another at Imogen and Jemima’s school – but I didn’t get photos of those specific locations when I was there last.
Now that you’ve read the book and seen the locations in Like Mother, Like Daughter, do they match up in your imagination? Let me know in the comments below!
